Friendship

I have a friend who lives close by, but we don't visit often. This is mostly due to her debilitating migraines, which keep her cloistered in her room for large amounts of time. How she copes, I do not know, but every time I hear from her or see her she makes me laugh.
Today though, we had some contact through the mail and her last mail just broke my heart. So I decided to borrow my brother in laws car and drive over for a visit. Not knowing if she would be up, or even available for company. I knocked on her door and she stumbled down the stairs in her nightgown with her hair on end and eyes filled with pain.
And then we had a lovely visit. A great two-way visit. Sure, my first intention was to see if I could cheer her up. Something that worried me, because it's not like I'm a radiating beam of cheer and light nowadays. But I wanted to do something!
Lying next to her on her bed in a darkened room was about all I did, but just doing that has given us both a boost. See, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and lonely, and she was in a lot of pain and feeling depressed. By just talking and sharing quietly we managed to cheer each other up. I felt a little less lonely and am reminded that she's only a short car drive away, and I can make this trip more often! And what she needed was a bit of encouragement from somebody and this time I was fortunate enough to have it be me.
Sometimes, when you do something for somebody else, you end up helping yourself almost as much as you end up helping the other person.