Finding the Helpers

Generosity of spirit lifts us up, gives us hope

The last several weeks have been anything but business as usual. Finding the appropriate words to describe our current reality is a challenge, itself. “Bizarre” immediately comes to mind, as does “tragic” and “scary.” And yet mixed in with the negative are positives, too.

Mr. Rogers once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

He was right. Around the world, we are witnessing families, friends and strangers pulling together at a time when things appear to be falling apart.

Restaurants in Portland and cities across the U.S. are feeding unemployed industry workers; schools are delivering lunches to hungry students; locals are organizing drives gathering desperately needed items, like diapers — thank you, Haugeberg-Sheas. Caring citizens are also helping hospitals, donating N-95 masks from homes and businesses, as well as homemade masks and 3-D printed face shields to facilities worried about sufficient PPE. Incredible ingenuity and generosity is happening every day, everywhere.

The kindness people are showing gives me a great sense of hope. Being able to see some light despite all the darkness is essential.

So, thank you to ALL the helpers: doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, healthcare aides, hospital chaplains, lab techs, janitors, EMTs, firefighters, police officers, grocery workers, pharmacists, delivery drivers, bus drivers — the list goes on.

But I’d also like to thank all of you who are taking the “bad” and turning it “beautiful.”

Cheers to you!