Supporting Family of Someone Ill

This is not really a story about what I’ve done, but what I’ve been seeing my wife do. A neighbor down the block was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago. He’s got a wife and two young children and day-to-day life has become very challenging for all of them, especially his wife. My wife got arranged for a meeting for their friends, family and neighbors a couple years ago and everyone gathered in our living room for an evening to talk about what help was needed and who could offer what. Since then, my wife has devoted hours of her time to coordinating the needs of their family with the many many volunteers who come to cook, shop, shuttle the kids, and just spend time with whoever needs it. I’ve been amazed by everyone’s generosity. Quite often, my wife will send an email saying “They need someone to sit the kids for 3 hours for a doctor’s appointment” and she gets so many responses so quickly that she has to send another email saying “stop, the slot is filled!” and then more to the folks who didn’t grab the job first. Her effort, and that of the many friends and supporters of the family, is incredibly heartening.