Scribbles and Scrambles - Racking Up Points

Refresher moment…I work with the public. Yeah, yeah, I can’t believe they let me out into the world, either.

I zap people full of radiation and then bill them. I’m right up there with IRS agents. Side-note –due to the radiation I glow in the dark which comes in real handy sometimes late at night.

I digress.

Occasionally, I witness a touching moment.

We’ve had family reunions in our waiting room. One day, three siblings showed up without knowing the other two would be there. Good times.

No one brought potato salad, though.

Another time we watched a budding romance between two ninety-year-olds. We peeked over the counters as they held hands, and he kissed her hand when his name was called.

The downside of working with the public is the increase of cynicism. Let’s just say we weren’t after that little interlude. Not a dry eye in the office.

This may feel like another veer from the subject, but it’s connected. Rob and I are taking a marriage enrichment class at church.

Really good if you are in the market. It’s called Love and Respect. I’m amazed at how much we’ve learned.

A recent topic was understanding women. The teacher shared that a 5,000,000 point gift for a woman and man are vastly different. Get a guy a new car and he’d be in hog heaven. A woman is much easier…he suggested men could save a ton of money by just being aware of the little things they could do or say to impact a woman’s heart. He suggested something as simple (aka cheap) as a walk together where the man scoops up a rock, puts it in his pocket and later gives it to her with a tiny love note penned on it with Sharpie.

This morning, one of my co-workers, who also attends the marriage class, started flapping her arms. “Oh! That was a 5,000,000 point comment!!!!”

We take pictures of our patients for our electronic filing system. A long-time married couple came in. He had been in a few weeks ago, now it was her turn. My co-worker asked to take a picture of her. She wasn’t real thrilled, but agreed.

He said. “Yeah, I broke the camera, but that won’t be a problem with her.” Okay, not exactly eloquent, but she isn’t exactly Helen of Troy.

I think my co-worker was right. How nice, how loving, how encouraging, especially when we see people cutting each other down all the time.

It made me think of the most romantic thing Rob’s ever said to me. Here it is. “I timed the bridge, it only takes three seconds to cross it.”

Wow. I can hear your hearts pitter-patter.

But here’s the context…when my kids were tiny I had a horrible nightmare. One of those vivid and intensely real ones where you wake up panicked and disoriented. I’d dreamt that our car plunged into the river that borders our city. We crashed through the ice and I rushed to get the kids out before we went under. But I couldn’t get a buckle undone. I awoke as the icy water reached my seat entombed little one. To say the dream freaked me out is an understatement. And for months I avoided crossing the river. When I did travel over it, I held my breath as I planned "what I’d do if…."

Then my husband came home one day and shared that little 5,000,000 point nugget. Yep.

How about you? Are you hanging on to a 5,000,000 point gift that could make all the difference in someone’s life? Or have you received 5,000,000 points lately. And guys, you can share, too.