{"id":282,"date":"2009-01-10T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-10T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=282"},"modified":"2009-01-10T18:22:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-10T22:22:00","slug":"lightening-the-load","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=282","title":{"rendered":"Lightening the Load"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family:verdana;\">Upon return from my recent business trip, my cold wasn&#8217;t any better.  I walked in my door this morning at 12:45am.  My partner was waiting up for me.  He took my bag, walked me up the stairs, and tucked me into bed.<\/p>\n<p>About 8:00am, he came to me because he heard me coughing.  He brought me some cold medicine.  He had a pad and pen in his hand.  He said, &#8220;you always have things planned for the weekend.  What do you have to do, and how can I help you lighten the load?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What a treasure I have in my man.  He knows me.  He can read me like a book.  He definitely can read my mind.<\/p>\n<p>His concern was that I am not over my cold yet, and I have to take a day completely &#8220;off.&#8221;  I had to stay home, rest, and not run myself ragged in doing the things that I do, and also not expose myself to wet and cold weather which could prolong my illness.<\/p>\n<p>I rattled off my list of &#8220;gotta do&#8217;s.&#8221;   He took notes.  He called a few people and put some things in motion.  That&#8217;s a big deal &#8212; my partner detests the phone, but if it will ease my load&#8230;.  He took my aunt to the grocery store, which is something he really doesn&#8217;t like to do, but if it will ease my load&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>My cop tenant took an elderly friend to a doctor&#8217;s appointment, where someone strong had to be able to help by lifting my friend into and out of a vehicle, and provide physical assistance in getting to the specialist&#8217;s hard-to-reach location.  He had planned to do something else, but if it will ease my load&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>My sister came over to drop off some (more) chicken soup, and pick up some maps on which I had made painstaking notations.  She brought them over to the guy who I am mentoring to take over my position in 2010 so he can &#8220;lead the charge&#8221; on a current development project discussion that was to be held this  afternoon.  My sister had planned to spend time with her daughter, but if it will ease my load&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>When my partner returned, he made me lunch, and then suggested I relax in our basement.  He set up the CD player to play lots of my old favorites, from <i>The Eagles<\/i> to <i>REO Speedwagon<\/i> to <i>Steve Wariner<\/i> to <i>Linda Ronstadt<\/i> to <i>Anne Murray<\/i> and more.  He turned the lights down low, and got out the afghan that my Mom spent a year making for me, and covered me with it.<\/p>\n<p>I heard the doorbell ring a few times.  Some of my &#8220;elder buds&#8221; brought over a casserole for dinner, plus some treats including cookies and nutless brownies.  This was their way to show that they care, and lighten my load a bit &#8212; as otherwise, I would fret about preparing dinner.<\/p>\n<p>I could hear water running now-and-then.  When I went upstairs later, I saw that my partner had unloaded my luggage, washed all of my clothes, and put everything away.<\/p>\n<p>I have often said, &#8220;show those you love that you love them,&#8221; and also, &#8220;love is something that you get more of the more you give it away.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I am humbled and very appreciative.  I love my friends, my family, and most of all, my man.  He shows his love each and every moment of every day.  I am so blessed.  My load is lightened.  I am feeling better &#8212; if perhaps not from the cold symptoms, at least from being relieved of some duties that I wasn&#8217;t really up to doing.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Upon return from my recent business trip, my cold wasn&#8217;t any better. I walked in my door this morning at 12:45am. My partner was waiting up for me. He took my bag, walked me up the stairs, and tucked me &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=282\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-life","category-partners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}