So, there I am, pushing my elderly father in his wheelchair down a hallway at the rehab center. He is just days out of his second, week-long stay in the hospital for congestive heart failure. He is very frail, in need of oxygen and constant assistance. I watch the spokes in the wheels of that mobile chair go 'round and 'round. It strikes me I've been here before in a different way. Many decades earlier my mom and dad had a similar task. They would push their young daughter in her stroller so that I could be part of their activity. As I drive around the Southern California streets I am visiting, I watch parents wheeling their children across sidewalks when the light turns green. 

The wheels of life are the same at the beginning - and toward the end. I never thought about it before. The momentum that makes those wheels move is kindness and caring. Children, too young to help themselves, have to rely upon the adults around them for help. We attend to their needs because we recognize they cannot help themselves.

As we become aged, the same truth applies. Without someone to care for our physical, emotional, financial and legal needs - where would be? In the case of my parents - each 88 years old  and both in wheelchairs - I find I have to be there for them. I am their advocate in the confusing and sometimes frightening world of elder care. 

I think there is something profound to be learned from this kind of service. It is often draining, difficult, and  yet very rewarding. As a culture, we are so rarely asked to serve. Military  families certainly know this kind of sacrifice. So do many others.

Tell me, what are you doing to serve the ones you love?