Time for another Parent Blogger's Network Blog Blast! This time, they and the people at Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education want to know how families show their love for each other!
One of the first times when I witnessed truly selfiess love was a family member who demonstrated it not for one of her immediate relatives, but for complete strangers.
It was a chilly winter night. Me and Diana were both about 19 years old, driving down Roosevelt Road in an attempt to find a beauty shop that would cut Monkeyboy's hair. Monkeyboy was three, and fought so much in the barber's chair that we had actually gotten kicked out of three different places that night!
As we neared our town, we heard a huge "BOOM!" The sky in front of us lit up firey orange.
I've always been terrified of loud noises and fire... even separately! Part of my sensory disorganization, I guess But when we drove ahead and saw what had caused the boom.. an explosion at an apartment building... Diana insisted that we stop. All sorts of people were gathered around outside, shivering and worried. The people in the apartment building had had to get out fast, without their jackets.
We happened to have a lot of blankets and jackets in the trunk of Diana's car, things left behind by random friends. Diana handed Monkeyboy to me, and ran to the car to get the blankets and jackets. She started passing them out to people who had kids. She took off Monkeyboy's jacket and put it on toddler who was shivering badly, having been in the bathtub when his family had had to run out of their house!
This was something straight out o Chicken Soup For the Soul! I came from a family where relatives loved each other, but compassion was not always demonstrated, especially not to strangers. Even down-and-out relatives were expected to fend for themselves! Diana was one of the first people who showed me a different, more universal, sort of love.
Throughout the years, Diana continued to demonstrate her love to the world. She did things like pass out hamburgers to homeless people, take care of children when their own parents couldn't, and let homeless friends and family members sleep on her couch.
I hope we can always be the type of people who have enough love to share with everyone!
