Photo by asaenat29

People are naturally altruistic creatures and have an innate need to be needed. A feeling I once thought was mine and mine alone.

Everyone just go away and leave me alone, I wanted to scream. As these words bubbled up in the back of my throat, friends hovered over me like vultures waiting to swoop in and devour decaying remains. I wasn’t dying!

“Jackie, stop being so stubborn,” my dear friend, Linda, admonished. “You’re facing major surgery. You’re going to need help.”

Linda and I met 29 years ago in the crying room of St. Simons Catholic Church. What started off as an acquaintance soon developed into a lifelong relationship. Over the following three decades, we had seven children between us, spent much time celebrating each other’s joys or feeling one another’s pain. We had become extended family and I reveled in the happiness that comes from the love unconditional friendship provides. But her nagging insistence to commiserate with my situation was crossing the line.

“Linda,” I said firmly. “I can handle this. I don’t need anyone’s help.”

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