5/8/2014 Paying it Forward

A really cool thing happened yesterday which I forgot to mention.
I was at my eye doctor's office. It always takes a huge amount of effort to get my prescription right, because my eyes are another one of my "special" genetic issues. They are profoundly near-sighted. More than most... so it's tricky finding a contact lens prescription that will cover the whole spectrum, and - true to my body's "special" nature - I don't ever adjust to two different lenses that way other people do.
Blah blah blah... the point here is not my eyes - it's what happened at the office, unrelated to my eyes!

My optometrist's wife Melanie, who also works there, had to undergo surgery on her heel about 5-6 weeks ago . Apparently it was quite a big operation, and she had to get around the office on a knee scooter - it's a little 4-wheeled cart that you kneel on with your bad leg and push around with the other. It was hard for her to use, and she also went back to work too early. She was in pain and exhausted. When I went in yesterday, she had gone back on medical leave, and was just newly back, using forearm crutches. She was near tears - unable to carry anything or hold anything in her hands, just really frustrated and still exhausted. I asked her how she was dealing with the crutches, and were they better than the knee scooter? She said, "I hate them. I'm going to get a walker as soon as I can."

Hmmm... just so happens, the "Cadillac" wheeled walker I borrowed which got me around for six months while I was so incapacitated, before and after my first hip replacement, was still in the back of my little Rav4!! I said, "SO - I have a good one in the back of my car. Would you like to come look at it and see if you want to borrow it for as long as you need it?"
Her face lit up like I've never seen her smile before! We walked straight out to my car, I pulled it out and showed her how the locks work, and she gave me a big tearful hug, tucked the crutches under her arm, and she was OFF! Immediately happier!
Now she can get around, stop and do whatever she needs with her hands, she has a basket, she can sit for a moment if she needs to - I am absolutely over-the-moon!

Being able to pay forward even a second of the kindness that was showered upon me in my whole surgery time (And in fact pay it back to her, directly - she once drove by my home and left my new contact lenses on my porch for me since I was unable to get in to the office) just makes my heart all kinds of joyful! The smile on her face was one of the best things I've seen in a long time, and I know where I've seen that smile before... I've seen it in my own mirror.

I spoke to her today re: my lenses, and asked how she was doing with the walker. I could hear her smile over the phone as she told me, "It's perfect! I love it!" Happy days!
When I popped in my new lens, she was still grinning ear to ear. 


Later, I stopped by the grocery store, and twice ran into friends whom I really cherish and adore - big hugs from my pals Zack and Dean! It was a really good day!