By: Barbara Boyk Rust
Reading Anita’s blog post about the Mitzvah Corps spurred me to write this appreciation of the generosity I am receiving from the group.
I am recovering very well from a major surgery that I had in the autumn of 2019. It has been a more extensive process than initially anticipated and my needs for assistance have surpassed anything I have experienced yet in this life. For many of us who take joy in giving care, it is a new challenge to allow ourselves to be cared for, especially when it is more care over a longer period of time than we imagined possible.
For the last few months and ongoing into the future I need rides to attend the physical therapy that is helping me with one of the key aspects of my healing, attaining structural balance and increasing freedom of motion.
Friends and family are helping me in many ways, and I need even more help as this is an extended period of healing. Also, given the world condition with the pandemic, I am not comfortable using public or private transportation like Uber, etc.
The congregation members, in particular, Anita Rubin-Meiller, Claudia Kraus Piper, Mike Ehmann, Janet Greenhut and Rebecca Kanner are helping me enormously.
First there’s the ride itself, their vehicles are clean and safe and feel appropriately tended given the pandemic, all these are stress relievers for me.
Secondly, they’re all great drivers! I am not able to drive at present and this loss of control is not easy for me. Being driven by individuals who are at ease and competent at the wheel offers a calming feeling of being cared for and protected.
Third, as healing is my full-time preoccupation, I am not seeing many people outside of my household in a given week. With the pandemic this is even more the case for all of us. When the driver comes to get me, I have the enjoyment of pleasant company and interesting conversation over the time we are together. Since this is an ongoing healing project for me, our relationships are developing gradually as our conversations evolve over the weeks and now months of our connecting in this way.
What’s the hub of the wheel of community? Connection. And the spokes of that wheel head out in many directions. The spoke that is helping me heal, giving me blessing, and affording me safe and consistent transportation over months to a vital part of my recovery is the spoke of generous giving of time and effort every Monday and Thursday at about 12:30 pm, when someone shows up at my home and takes me to PT. I am grateful and appreciative beyond words for all that it takes in order for this gifting to me to occur.
These mitzvah doers have a spoke of connection to me, yes, and through their goodness, to the One that connects us all. It’s a blessing.
