Someone to Care For

For Christmas, I gave Linda a "Someone To Care For" doll. I had wondered if it was too early for this although I knew that she had always loved dolls when growing up. Well, it was not too early! When she opened the gift she loved it. We named her Baby Ann (Linda's middle name).

Linda held Baby Ann all during the gift giving and unwrapping, all the way home in the car, took a nap with her on Christmas afternoon, and has now slept with her at night the last two nights. She loves Baby Ann. I told her she would be Baby Ann's caregiver and I would be her caregiver so we all have an important role to play.

For Linda to be at peace with herself, she needs to be able to make a contribution. The same is true for me. And I have found that in conflicted communities one of the best ways to work on peace is to help everyone have a part to play and a contribution to make. Then the peace belongs to everyone. Not so different in the world of caregiving..