The Weight of Being Cared For
Florence provided things I had gone without for years.
Warm meals.
Clean clothes.
A place to sleep without fear.
Small gifts left quietly where I would find them.
At first, I accepted these things easily.
Later, I began feeling something I could not ignore.
Shame.
Not because she demanded anything in return.
Because she didn’t.
Generosity has a way of revealing whether gratitude or greed is growing inside us.
Too often, I chose greed.
I received blessings without allowing them to change me.
A Loss That Changed the Questions
When Florence died, my first emotions were not noble ones.
I wish they had been.
Instead of focusing entirely on the loss of a human being, part of my mind remained fixed on practical concerns.
What would happen now?
What had she left behind?
What would become of me?
Grief and self-interest often become tangled together in uncomfortable ways.
The days after her death forced me to confront parts of myself I had spent years avoiding.
