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My daughter-in law bought me a bouquet of flowers. Isn’t that nice?! But then she gave my flowers to another woman. Why did she do that?

Here is the story:

While at the grocery store my daughter-in-law Jeri saw pretty bouquets of flowers and decided to buy one for me. While Jeri was in the check-out lane she met a woman named Clare who seemed sad and a little confused. Jeri started talking with Clare and found out that Clare’s husband had died the previous week. Clare’s grief made everything seem so disorienting to her.  So Jeri decided to give “my” flowers to Clare.  Clare gave Jeri a hug and said, “Oh honey.  Thank you.”

So my daughter-in-law gave flowers intended for me away and I am so glad that she did. For it brings me such joy when I hear about something we could call, “On-the-Spot-Caregiving.”

When Jeri told me this sweet story, she said, “I knew that you would want her to have the flowers.”  And she was right.

So I hope that Jeri’s “On-the-Spot-Caregiving” will inspire all of you to notice when someone is sad, depressed or frustrated, and that you will take some kind of action and do, “On-the-Spot-Caregiving.”

I would love to hear about your “On-the-Spot-Caregiving” stories. Please put them in the comment section. How has someone shown care to you when you least expected it?