Day 11

Today's favor was about flexibility. I awoke this morning with a pre-determined schedule for the day. I was supposed to teach a client, go for a hike with a friend and attend to a new favor.

However, within a matter of minutes after awakening, my whole day changed. My client canceled her session and I received an email from a good friend passing on two names of desired favor recipients and also mentioning that she had surgery this past Friday for the elbow she shattered while snowboarding last Fall and it had not gone as planned. Her words were simple and direct and yet I felt she chose to reach out to me at this particular time for some underlying reason. It was as if I could sense her discomfort and pain. After re-reading the email, all I wanted was to offer to help. I sent her a text message asking if I could be of use to her today since I no longer had a Pilates session to teach and knew I could reschedule the other events for the day. To my delight, she responded, "Yes!"

I drove up to Santa Barbara not sure what to expect for the visit but believing the purpose of today was to help my friend. Upon arriving to her parents' home where she's recuperating, I told her, "You are my favor today. Whatever you need, I'm here to help." At first she seemed uncomfortable with my offer, but then smiled and said, "Great!"

My friend is an avid consumer of healthy food and prefers small farmer's markets to large grocery chains any day. For the first part of her favor, I drove her to the farmer's market and carried a nylon bag to transport her purchases home. As we walked along the long line of vendors, I was struck by my friend's positive attitude and demeanor. Here she is with a shattered elbow, which only now may begin to flex past 50 degrees and yet she is full of energy, life and hope. She is so giving with her time and never shys away from a challenge. I know it took a lot for her to allow me to assist her in the market and I almost cried when she asked me to hold her arm for her while she sipped her cup of hot coffee. The meaning behind her request is what moved me so greatly: for her to ask me to support her injured limb meant she trusted me to the highest degree and allowed herself to lean on me for a little bit of help. If you knew my friend it would make sense why the tears almost flowed...I have never felt closer to her nor more honored to share in another's favor to date.

We returned to her parents' home and enjoyed a lovely dinner in their inviting kitchen. I told them how 32 Favors came to be and they listened attentively, conveying warmth and admiration for the endeavor. I offered to drive my friend home rather than have her parents make the trek. I asked if it was OK to include them on the blog and they kindly agreed. I told them it was my pleasure to do any bit of kindness for their amazing daughter who has been an incredible friend to me. The day did not end the way I expected and defied the greatest of all possible expectations I could have fathomed.