If you’re like me, in times of difficulty and stress and sometimes downright disaster, there are people who will question everything you do, not put the best construction on what you have done, and basically critique decisions and plans that you have made. They enter into discussions as to what you should have done, and what should not have been done along time ago that would remediate the immediate situation. They never understand the present situation is all about the problems and issues of the now, and the past, although it may be prologue, has no place in the immediate situation. They are good at autopsies but are, what some have called, people with “limited horizons“.
If you are extremely blessed, you may have one or two or six or seven folks around you who, in times of difficulty ask a very simple question; “how can I help?“
The folks who behave that way and have that kind of attitude are usually not celebrated as much as they should be. There may be a mixture of embarrassment and maybe some defensiveness when asked a question like that. We may simply not be prepared to give an answer because we always expect a lecture. Someone blithely asking how they can help even inside a store that wants to sell you something is getting to be a rare thing indeed.
Folks like that are incredible blessings. They run the risk of being taken advantage of but they don’t seem to mind. They are the “bolsters” to the faint and the weak hearted and confused. They are the reinforcements for the overwhelmed. They live out the biblical injunction of “strengthening the faint hearted, supporting the week and honoring the brethren”.
The Grafton Chamber of Commerce honored Nellie Schutt as one of those people the other day. She was chosen as the Life Skills and Transition Center employee of the year. There was a beautiful letter written by Mary Rudnik, another “bolster” type and the nurse at LSTC . Folks drove by Nellies house in Minto and honked horns in appreciation.
I spent some time remembering the death of Evelyn Allensworth (see the blog spot on this site for March 2, 2017) and the panic of trying to learn all the things I never knew because Evelyn did them. Figuring out what you don’t know is hard work, but doing the little things that need to be done when you never knew how they were done in the first place is daunting. Anyway Nellie and others “how can I help” was inspiring.
We sing blue grass hymns together. She has a group of singers from hospital staff that are very good. It is interesting that her Southern twang is only present when she sings. She is also a fibber. She said she was ,”speechless” when she got the reward, but she is never speechless.
Anyway congratulations on the award. For all the other “bolsters” out there, thanks.
