Extraordinary Kindness ― When You Need It the Most

"When a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do.  Think up something appropriate and do it."
― E.W. Howe

There are days... and there are days.  Yesterday, by most people's estimation, would qualify as "one of those days."

While I was at an event at my children's school yesterday morning, I checked my phone to find a text from my husband saying that he had been in a car accident.  Despite his "all ok" text, I was worried.  I spoke to him briefly and he explained that it was a three-car accident on the highway, the airbags deployed and his windshield was shattered.  I told a very nice woman who was sitting at my table.  She calmed me down and then, without my knowing, told one of my closest friends who works nearby.  Within minutes, my girlfriend was there and said that she would drive me to where my husband was because she knew that I was too nervous to drive.  (It's great when your friends know you so well.  This was not the first time that this particular friend had driven me during a difficult time.)

It is incredible the to-do list that immediately develops after a car accident -- dealing with the police, calling the insurance company, getting the car towed, emptying your car of your belongings, getting a ride to work...  By the time I spoke to him, my husband had already called someone to pick him up and gather his belongings.  He had to get to work quickly, so he thought about calling a friend of ours who lives out of state, but has a second car in town that my husband has used in the past.  I told him to do that right away, so that he could get to where he needed to go.

As my girlfriend drove me to find my husband, I received a call from the friend who was lending my husband his car.  He told me that he had spoken with my husband and that he was fine.  He emphasized that my husband was coherent and told me not to worry.  He said that my husband could borrow his car as long as he needed to and that he would actually be doing him a favor by driving it and putting it to good use.  He shared that he had been in a similar accident a while back and that in six months, this would just be something that happened.  He also said that he and his wife were praying for us.  The call was one of the most thoughtful calls I have ever received and seemed completely heaven-sent.  Through tears, I asked this friend how he had thought to call me.  He said he thought it would be what would help his wife if he were in an accident.

It was a huge relief to see for myself that my husband was fine.  My girlfriend drove me back to my children's school where I attended events for them. 

Later that afternoon, as I was driving one of my children to an appointment, my mother called to tell me that she had been in a car accident.  She said that she was fine, but thought that she might have broken a finger.  I asked a friend of mine who was taking care of one of my children if she could keep her a little longer.  No problem was the reply.  I drove to the crash site and helped my mother empty her car, so that it could be towed and then waited while the police officers finished the paperwork.  She turned out to have a fracture in her hand.

All I wanted to do yesterday was to go home, crawl into bed and not come out -- for a while.  But as I reflected on the day, despite its strangeness and scariness, I counted my blessings.  The obvious ones were that my husband and my mother were fine.  But I also counted among my blessings the extraordinary kindness of my friends.  Through the day's scary moments, I felt supported every step of the way.  I was surrounded by incredibly kind people:  the woman who found my girlfriend, that girlfriend who drove me to see my husband, the friend who called to reassure me that my husband was fine before I saw him, my friend who helps me regularly with my children...  Life happens, but I was completely overwhelmed by the kindness of these people who figured out what would help and just did it.

Our dear friend whose car my husband is now driving sent me an e-mail yesterday in which he shared that a spiritual director had once told him two things that made a very big impression on him:  "Put people I know who are in trouble in the Lord's hands, and Guardian Angels are powerful allies. Maybe those two things came together today. I think they did."