We did our best

Our language is so interesting.  I'm thinking of when we talk about doing our best.  Most often we refer to doing our best as a consolation.  We might not have won, scored well or were not chosen, didn't pass the muster but we did our best.  Usually when we talk about doing our best it means we didn't do as well as we would like.

I taught my kids that if they did their best then they didn't have any reason to feel bad regardless of if they won or lost.  I made sure to tell them before the game or competition as well as after.  I tried to help them see that the honor came in doing one's best not in winning.

Tonight the three of us went to the hospital to visit an old friend from church.  We were told she was in the hospital and that she needed some visitors.  Unbeknown to most, the last time she was in the hospital, I had not visited her.  She is a curmudgeonly like soul.  She chided me later for not visiting her and we agreed that the next time she was in the hospital that I would visit.  Or at least that is how I remembered it.

So when I found she was in the hospital, I remembered my promise and spoke with the family and we went to visit.  She has MRSA.  So we had to put on gloves and wear masks in her room.  That lasted until the nurses showed up and I noticed they were not using such precautions and then they told us we didn't have to wear the masks as she wasn't contagious.  Nice to know.

Back to when we arrived she quickly reminded me of our deal, the one where I promised to visit.  Except she remembered it differently.  The deal was that I would come to visit "if she called me".  Hmmm.  Did that mean that since she called she didn't want me to visit?

So we talked and had a good time.  She thanked us for visiting and I could tell she was on her best behavior.  We told her our intention was to sing for her as we like to do when we visit sick folks in the hospital, but with the face masks that was difficult.  She didn't seem to want us to sing and was happy to talk.  When the face masks were taken off we again broached the topic of singing.  None too enthusiastic she agreed we could sing if we wanted to.  We did.  She thanked us and said we sounded okay and she knew of course we had done the best we could after all.  I guess that was fair considering she didn't really want us to sing to her anyway, but is struck me as so much like her.  Trying to be nice but out pops a little game leveler.  It is hard to irritated when the person saying that is sick in bed and I am healthy able to go sing to more appreciative audiences if I choose.  We laughed all the way home.

As we left her room, only, of course because a respiratory therapist came to give her a treatment, I couldn't help but say as we left:  " By the way, no need to call!"

Ha!