I have been told that as my Parkinson's worsens I am becoming a more appreciative man.
While I never considered myself unappreciative before the disease really manifested itself, I guess it stands to reason that as I need more and more help I would express thanks for the various acts of kindness that people have been showing me.
Although I could produce a lengthy list of individuals who have been helpful in their own special way, I would have to say at the head of the kindness list is my wife, Nancy. She is a true blessing to me as she assists with an ever-growing list of things that I once could perform for myself without giving them a second thought, but now either struggle to do or cannot accomplish alone.
Despite all the time she spends doing things for me, Nancy also makes time to express kindness to others. Her motivation to make the time to show kindness to others comes from multiple sources.
People of faith will recognize Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind and compassionate to one another."
The golden rule is another point of inspiration, "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Twice in the past week the same message of sharing kindness presented itself to my bride. Youngsters from a Hannibal elementary school stopped by the downtown shop where Nancy works. They were passing out bags filled with confetti which urged recipients to spread kindness like confetti. A day or so later we encountered the same message on a sign at the eye doctor's office at which we had an appointment.
Instead of distributing bits of paper that encourage kindness, Nancy instead went into the kitchen, dug out a couple of favorite cookie recipes and began to make two different types of cookies, snickerdoodles and chocolate chip.
As if Parkinson's wasn't enough I recently learned that I had two different types of cancer growing on the top of my head. Rather than have those areas removed surgically I opted for radiation treatment over 20-day period.
On the next two last day of treatment Nancy took out a plate of cookies, one for each treatment session. While intended for the entire staff at the dermatologist's office, they were particularly intended for the technician who administered the majority of my treatments, Justin. We could always count on him to be friendly and helpful. Nancy said after watching Justin sample one of the cookies he gave her a thumb's up.
Also receiving kindness cookies was Bill, the husband of one of Nancy's Bible study buddies. He was recruited to come and sit with me for a couple of hours while Nancy was at work. His wife reported that Nancy's cookies were a big hit.
Anna, our youngest daughter, also received some of her mother's cookies after giving up much of a recent Sunday afternoon to keep me off the floor while Nancy worked. The kindness cookies were also intended to serve as a thank you to Anna, and her husband, Nick, for their help in getting me off the floor following a recent fall. Anna appreciated the cookies, according to Nancy, who dropped them off where our daughter works.
Some of Nancy's kindness cookies even wound up within my reach, for which I was very thankful because I would choose Nancy's cookies any day of the week over a bag of confetti.
June 01, 2021 at 12:15PM
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A LITTLE SALT: Choosing cookies over confetti | Opinion | hannibal.net - Hannibal.net
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