Sunday, August 12, 2012

Mindful Giving - Day 10

Friday, August 10, 2012

My friend has been having a truly rough summer. Her boyfriend broke up with her in June, and she has struggled with the loss more than any of us -- or even she -- ever expected. In fact, at this point the sorrow and pain is both encouraging her to grow tremendously and bringing up old, unhealed wounds which are really very difficult to cope with. So...

I've been spending as much time with her as I can, and keeping a close eye on her. She's gone through a few nasty bouts of depression and hopelessness in the last months, but so far, she is soldiering on admirably. I try to talk to her every day, and see her at least once a week.

My gift for this day was inviting her to spend the whole day with me. We met for breakfast in a cafe downtown and I bought her bagel and coffee. (She eats like a little bird. When stressed, her appetite completely goes away, a phenomena inexplicable to me with my different body type! This stressful stretch has dropped her from a size two (the horror) back to a double zero, so she really can't afford to NOT eat any more.)

I had work to do, but I didn't feel particularly like applying myself. I've turned things in at a good clip lately, so I figured passing on the next set until Monday wasn't going to clog me up.

After brunch we wandered around a bit, but with the temperature hovering around 105, it was just unbearably hot. We were going to go into CBTL when I said, You know, we could go to my house! It's empty and calm, and I have good a/c.

So we came back here and spent the rest of the afternoon together. I gave her wine and after a few hours I got up and made her a plate of leftover chicken stew and potatoes, without even asking, and handed it to her. (Which is the same way I feed my younger daughter, who has a similar build.) And later, I convinced her to go with my husband, and me and his coworkers to celebrate his birthday. We actually had a really good time!!

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