Photo by Sarah Rice / Sarah Rice for msnbc.com
This article makes my heart so full, I could burst open. Take a moment to click over and read it, if you can. You see, I am beyond blessed to be married to a wonderful man and a part of a very giving family. When the dark days after Asher was born proved too difficult to handle alone, we had help.
Many people don’t have that safety net. They may wonder what would happen to them if a serious illness or injury befell them. I can relate to some degree due to our years in Charlotte, NC. When we first moved, we were a newly married and very young couple. Not only that, but we were just a few months away from becoming parents for the very first time. Our nearest family member was 600 miles away, and we did not know a soul when we first settled into life in Charlotte.
But, slowly, we developed friends that felt like family. We never had a need that went unmet. I am passionate about community care for people who may not have family nearby, so I was so glad to see the issue get attention in the national stage.
Sometimes, when we have family nearby, we forget that there are others that have no family to speak of. They may be widowed, or never married, or just far removed or estranged from their extended family. I think that caring for those individuals is a burden that we need to bear, to take some of the weight off their shoulders.
Are you involved in some way in caring for or supporting those who have no support? I need to be looking into new ways now that we have relocated. This article was such a great reminder to seek out new ways to care.
2 Comments on "Caring for those Without Family"
We are involved. And the more we get involved the more we want to do and be for those who have no support.
And yet I still struggle. Struggle to love some who aren’t like me. Struggle to reach out to some who I think will ask things of me that are out of my comfort zone. Struggle to love like Jesus loves me.
I am a single mother of three little ones and my closest family is 700+ miles away. I would not make it without the help of neighbors to car pool, friends who encourage and sustain me. It’s really tough. really, really tough and if there weren’t some who were just willing to take on the hard stuff with us, we could easily fall through the cracks of society. Bless you when you reach out, knowing there may be little earlthy ‘return’ on that investment.