A Small Thing That Helped Today
Tuesday afternoon, mid-July. A woman I do not know well dropped a small paper bag on our porch.
Inside was a fresh peach. Wrapped in a napkin. One peach. Heavy, perfectly ripe, slightly warm from the sun.
There was a small note: "From my tree. Thinking of your family. -K."
That is the whole story.
I have been thinking about that peach all week. Not because it was a peach. Because of what it taught me, gently, about what landing-acts of kindness can look like in the world of a survivor family.
K. did not call ahead. K. did not ask what we needed. K. did not write a long card. K. did not require anything from us. K. brought one fruit from her own backyard to our front porch on a Tuesday afternoon and let that be the whole gesture.
I ate the peach standing at the kitchen sink. It was unreasonably delicious. I cried a little.
I think about all the ways our community has shown up for our family over these years. The meal trains. The texts. The cards. The gas cards. The casseroles. The birthday cards for our daughter from people we barely know. The peach.
Most of it has been small. Most of it has been quiet. Most of it has not asked anything of us.
I am writing this on a Friday in July to say thank you. To K. To the meal-train Sarah. To the gas-card friend who sends one every month. To my mother-in-law who sends our daughter a card every Wednesday. To the neighbor who waves a little harder than necessary when we pull into the driveway.
The small things have been the big things.
If you are a friend of a cancer family reading this, the peach version of help is real. A small thoughtful gesture, with no request attached, is one of the most meaningful things you can offer.
Going to go eat the rest of the peaches now.
Dina
Mom of Max | Founder, Maxwell’s Toy Shoppe
Childhood Cancer Advocate 💛
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