Counseling and Comforting

I am astonished sometimes, by the ideas and thoughts that come to my mind, as I have discussions with my husband, or one of our children.  There are just moments when the right idea makes sense, and the direction seems clear, of what to do.

Tonight, we were talking about a business decision and discussion that needs to take place with one of the  company members.  I felt to suggest, he should focus on the plan and the way forward, rather than talking in circles about all that has happened in the past.  I also suggested that my husband remain perfectly steady and unflappable, and other people and things would eventually become steady, around him.  He is CEO, so it is essential that he maintain the course for the company and himself.  Other members need reassurance of the value they are to the company, and then they are happy and willing to contribute in the areas where their real talents lay.

I reminded him of the strength he has given me throughout our marriage.  When I thanked him for this, he quickly pointed out that I have done the same for him.  We reflected together on the time when our youngest son was born 3 months premature.  He was in intensive care for the first two months of his life.  I cried the first time I saw him in the incubator, and as I spoke to him he recognized my voice and quieted down.  I cried many times, when I saw the tiny marks on his skin, where the nurses searched for a place to move the life-saving IV needle, or the revised bandaid covers on his heels from where they pricked him again and again. His skin was so tender and new it was raw.  I cried to witness his battling spirit, in his tiny 2 lb body.  My husband was reassuring and devoted to me and our other four children at home.  The battle was on multiple fronts, as we dealt with financial decisions as well.  I reassured my husband, that we would make it.  We held each other and quietly sobbed on our pillows at night.  Each of us grieved at different moments and in different ways; when one was down the other was usually up, and vice versa.  It is a carefully choreographed existence, and the essence of the definition of "helpmeet".