Generosity is Hers

Generosity is giving
Freely without a thought of the self,
Not just helping one in need
But just the giving for giving’s sake.
Those with the giving nature
Are the blessed of folks,
A wheel of giving with many spokes.

Giving of time is a valuable gift,
Sharing of self is a bonding affair,
Each is a player in the game of life
And easing of strife means an equal share.

So never underestimate the power of
Generosity, reciprocity,
The giving of love.
Give to the givers,
give them your blood.

Looking Back

I gave my wife a ballerina figure, thinking that as she had done some ballet as a child she would enjoy it. But after that first day I didn’t see in on any shelf or surface. I thought she might have tucked it away somewhere safe, as she was wont to do at that stage.

About a week later, while visiting our son and his family, I spotted the little ballerina. Ann had regifted it.

At first I was perplexed, then miffed, even angry and hurt. Once again I had guessed wrong. That had been happening a lot lately. She constantly refused (or was incapable of) telling me what she would like for her birthday, for Christmas, for Mother’s Day, etc. Perhaps I was wrong in asking, but I wanted her to have something she really wanted or valued; even something she needed.

Like the fact that she was always at me to go walking with her. So I bought her a book on walking. The book continues to languish on a book shelf. The same fate met the wonderful massage wand I gave her for the aches she was having in her limbs.

But upon reflection, I think that Ann’s giving away things was merely a reflection of her hugely generous nature. For one thing, she continuously bought things for me, for no other reason than that she wanted to, whether I needed the thing or not. She bought me clothes, sock, underwear, a deerskin jacket, a cowboy hit (which I wear regularly), cushions for my car because I had an achy back…

And her generosity to others, well! She would see, she would give.

When she discovered our next door neighbour at the time did accounting, she promptly asked her to do my taxes. Once done, my wife insisted that I pay the lady a hundred bucks. Too generous, said I. But she insisted, absolutely. Then, the lady having been duly paid, my wife insisted on fifty dollars worth of flowers for her. Then it was a box of chocolate. Then she wanted to give her more money.

I had to put my foot down. Such generosity was going to bust our bank. And the sum total of the tax results was that I owed Revenue Canada three hundred bucks. This kind of generosity I could not afford.

As my wife’s Alzheimer’s progressed, she not only hid her jewellery, which she sorted through frequently, but she also began accusing me of stealing it. All the while she was giving pieces away – to our granddaughter, to our son; she even offered it to our respite workers.

Generosity. It can leave you poor.

But…I loved her for it.

Miss Generosity

Generosity, she was generosity!
She’d give you the shirt right off her back.
She did.
Visit her, she’d feed you very well.
She’d make sure you were warm
When winter storms came along.
Miss Generosity was always
‘Give and never ever take,’
This generosity was never fake.

That was just in her nature,
Along with the urge to nurture.
That’s just the way that she was built,
Generosity to the hilt.

She would look to your needs
Before she looked after hers,
Just the way you treat your pets.
She loved everybody.
She was a study in
The nature of the human core.
She would give, and then give some more.

CREDITS: Sunset picture from Clip Art; Giving Poster from Pinterest.