I have heard this expression many times and if I remember rightly it is one my adopted mum often used. I am not sure she ever received as much as she gave but whatever she gave to and for others she did so willingly without thought of repayment.
I am now beginning to realise the truth of the above expression. As you know my OH and I are quite elderly (78 and 80) at present and 'cos of my arthritis so much falls on his very able shoulders but he can only do so much. The house is not too bad but the garden, oh, dear!!! You can certainly see the neglected tasks that I am no longer capable of doing and I was beginning to despair of ever claiming our garden back from the wilderness that it had become.
Along came a very generous offer from our daughter. She knew of a young man who worked clearing up run-down gardens and she would pay for him to work for us. At first I protested that it would be costly but she in her inimitable way just told me to 'shut up'. She did not mean that in an unkind way but rather just that she had made up her mind that this was what was going to happen and any argument from me would go unheeded. What more could I do than to gracefully accede to her wishes. (I am not sure where she gets this stubborn streak from.)
James has done quite a number of hours work here and although it is far from neat and tidy you can see the beginning of the resurrection taking place. He will eventually work less often in an endeavour to maintain some semblance of order in the garden and I am hoping my OH and I will be able to do our bit as well. We have already established a new vegie patch for my OH and some dwarf beans are showing through and soon broad beans will soon be going in as well and hopefully silver beet etc. too.
I realise now of course that what went around has come around. Many years ago when our grandchildren were quite young my daughter and her husband were really battling and in danger of losing their home. We were able at that time to help them by paying a couple of monthly mortgage payments as well as other accumulated bills and then a year or so later I was able to assist them to really begin to get back on their feet.
I now realise that what you give comes back when you are not expecting it. Our son-in-law has loaned us sufficient money to pay for our airconditioning repairs but we do intend to pay him back as much as we can, when we can. As the aircon is still under warranty, we have to make a claim to the receivers of the airconditioning company and, with a bit of luck, we may receive about 30 cents in the dollar. This could be about $300 as the repairs totalled just over $1,000. If we do receive that amount it will go straight to s-i-law with our thanks.
When we gave our help all those years ago we didn't do it with any expectations at all but now we are a bit down on our uppers" it has been wonderful to receive this help. There is little we can do but accept this help and say thanks heaps.
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