Are You A Good Friend?

How do you react in an emergency? 

You deal with it, right? No matter what. You drop everything and do whatever it takes to fix whatever it is that need fixing.

But what if that emergency happened to a friend that was already down on their luck. How would you handle that?

Would you be as quick to hurry to help?

Sometimes life throws a curve ball into our busy schedules. An emergency is just that. It's a crisis that happens out of the blue, and we have to react to it somehow.

You cannot plan how you deal with an emergency. You just react - or not. Simple as that.

When something happens in our life that's out of our control, we are challenged. I see these as learning opportunities, and a test of character.

There is a saying; "Love your neighbor as yourself." 

Do we all do that? Do we all care that much for those who live near us and our friends? Or do we silently ignore other people's suffering.

One of my friends, Kayleigh-Anne (Not her real name) has just had a major stomach operation to remove a cancerous stomach growth. She has no family, and few friends to help her when she needs them. She never asks me for help, and I live across the street.

Kayleigh-Anne is a single mom with young kids. I offered my help during the operation but she told me that another friend was staying with her while she was in hospital. Another friend of hers was helping her refill a prescription. She told me she was fine.

I knew Kayleigh-Anne had come home after the stomach operation. I kept in touch with her before and afterward. She told me everything went well and she was managing fine at home. 

I had still had a feeling something was wrong. You know when you get one of those "niggles" in the back of your head that won't go away. Instead of messaging her, I went to her house. 

Kayleigh-Anne was a mess. Her kids were on playdates and safe, but she was an emotional and physical wreck. 

It turned out her first friend couldn't get out of the house quick enough to get back to her own life. She left the house in a right mess. There was a stack of wet laundry, and the sink was full of dirty dishes. Kayleigh-Anne was too sore to move. She was bent over her stomach to open the front door for me, crying with pain because she ran out of her pain killers.

A second friend couldn't be bothered to wait for the prescription to be filled when there was a queue.

Seriously, who does that to someone?

I phoned an ambulance, and when the paramedics came, they immediately took her to hospital where she went on IV medicines to prevent sepsis. She was in a bad way and I sat with her until I had to get home to her kids.

I stayed in her house overnight, picked up her kids, cooked dinner and sorted bedtime. I sat with her kids and talked through their worries and we called Kayleigh-Anne together. I basically "covered for her," until she recovered enough to make it home again.

Kayleigh-Anne is better today and I just picked her up. From now on, I'm checking on her on an hourly basis to make sure she carries on improving.

How long does it take to help someone in pain? It really doesn't take much to be that person for someone. 

Yes, I'm a busy mom. I teach and I'm about to complete an MFA in writing. I am never too busy to help someone who needs me.

Human dignity and compassion. That's what helping is.

I can sleep tonight for the first time in two days, knowing that Kayleigh-Anne is safe and finally healing. Post operation infections are no joke. They can turn serious and life-threatening quickly, even when you are healthy and young.

If you have a neighbor or a friend who is down on their luck, please check on them in person. Don't just take their word for it that they are "fine." 

I was once like Kayleigh-Anne. I didn't want to ask for help because I didn't want to inconvenience anyone. I've learnt that no one should ever feel like they are an "inconvenience."

Everyone's life matters. Everyone.

I write extensively about helping people who are down on their luck. My Cedar's Port thriller romance series is written for those who begin again - with nothing.

My fourth book: Bringing Back Faith, is about an orphan with a horrific background. She is put in the foster system but is adopted and starts to thrive. Then her luck turns when she starts a career as a forensic sketch artist and she finds herself running for her life. Then she meets, Sam. A Navy veteran who is also down on his luck. Together they flee from the west coast and travel to Cedar's Port with a drug cartel hot on their tail.

I wrote, Bringing Back Faith for those who are down on their luck and need a helping hand in life.

Please check on your friends and be that good Samaritan. You might just make someone's day a little bit more bearable.

There are many trauma survivors out there, and there is support all over the world. There is support online, too, that are gateways to real face-to-face help. Use them and spread the word. 

Nobody should suffer in silence. Nobody.

Can I count on you? 

Count on me by Bruno Mars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R533DDds3RY

My name is Lizzy. I'm a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

If you like reading my posts, then please follow me.

For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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