I’m sorry I haven’t been here in a minute. Let me tell you why -

Two months ago, I sat in the back seat of our car as my best friend, Josey, drove my husband and me to the ER.

Hymns played softly, my husband slept in the passenger seat, and Josey and I didn’t say a word.

Let me back up.

My husband had been struggling with a significant health challenge that was becoming more serious by the day.

A few days before our trip to the ER, I was on the phone with Josey. I was feeling overwhelmed with everything that was going on and started crying because I didn’t know what to do, and I felt really alone.

“Would it be helpful if I came?” she asked.

She wasn’t in New Jersey. She was halfway across the country.

“Josey, that’s not why I’m saying this to you. I just don’t know what to do.”

“That’s not what I asked,” she said. “Would it be helpful if I came?”

And I replied that of course it would be helpful.

She said, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And the next day, she got on a plane and came to see us.

In the meantime, some dear family friends, Kathy and Richard, offered to come as well and support us at the hospital. My husband’s parents have both passed away, and neither of mine were able to come.

So the five of us carpooled to the emergency room, not really knowing what the next hours or days would hold.

My husband has a road in front of him. It’s been a really hard stretch, but he’s going to be okay, and I’m so grateful for all of the care he’s been given.

One thing that’s become really clear to me is how much we need other people.

You see, I’m not very good at asking for help. I like to be the person who helps other people. I think it’s really important to show up for folks.

And while I’ve absolutely been on the receiving end of incredible kindness in my life, this felt different.

Three people volunteering to fly across the country just to help us.

Friends offering to step into a hospital with us and navigate something overwhelming.

And I didn’t even have to ask.

It was simply offered.

And it was overwhelming in the most incredible way.

Kathy and Richard stayed in town for a week.
They sat with us. Helped us think clearly when things felt overwhelming. Made sure we weren’t navigating the system alone.

My husband transferred to a rehab facility a week after being admitted to the hospital and was there for a month. He’s home now and working on continuing to get better.

But the part that stays with me most isn’t the logistics.

It’s the power of people loving you and stepping forward when you don’t even know how to ask.

The texts from friends who were in the loop that simply said, “I’m thinking of you.”

The quiet check-ins.

There is something incredibly humbling about being held by your community when you’re used to being the one doing the holding.

And I’m still taking that in.

Sometimes love sounds like four simple words:

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”