Charlotte and Grant probably first came into my life shortly after I moved to Connecticut in October, 1986. Mary was a teacher in the local school system and so was Charlotte. I know I met Charlotte long before meeting Grant.
Charlotte immediately impressed me as one of Mary’s friends simply by her manner and way of dealing with a variety of people. The first several times I was able to be in Charlotte’s company happened to be at various social occasions for teachers. These events were for me usually difficult since I do not like crowds and a lot of noise. I usually found myself sitting alone at these gatherings as I felt not much in common with most of the people there. I was struck, however by the way Charlotte usually managed to find the time to come and say hello and to see how I was getting along. This is simply part of who she is. Caring and sharing are integral to Charlotte’s peronality.
I remember Wednesdays when Mary was sick. Wednesday was always a good day because this was when Charlotte would deliver to our house a complete home-cooked meal with instructions for heating in the oven. This was done without fanfare of any kind, always very quietly. Charlotte always seemd to prove that the best charity is done in secret.
Grant is another story. I didn’t quite know what to make of Grant when I first met him. What that first occasion was is hard to say, but I tend to think it was at his home for dinner. He seemed friendly enough but there was something that made me a little uneasy. Later, I found what it was. Grant is at least as big a smart-ass as I am. When you find in others that which disturbs you, it may be that you are seeing a .case. You have never met a more caring and loyal friend.
Living conditions have been less than ideal since my return to Connecticut on the 31st of October. I have either been in the hospital or a nursing facility or a temporary residential program. I only was able to move into my own place on the 7th of April. Since the beginning, Grant has been there, providing rides to wherever I needed or wanted to go. I remember when I first went to the Temporary Residential Program, I was standing outside performingh an air quality check (aka, smoking) when Grant rolled up and said, “Hey, you want to get out of there for a while?” That began a five-month long series of nearly daily rides.
Those rides generally ended at Charlotte and Grant’s where I mostly slept on their counch only to be awakened for supper. Shortly after supper, Grant would get me back to where I needed to go. This was a great burden to him in the last few weeks, since that is when I was in the alleged skilled nursing facility, which was about 35 miles from Grant’s house. Think of the math a moment. This involved to 70-mile round trips almost daily for a couple of weeks or, a minimum of 140 miles per day.
One of the nicer things about being at home with this wonderful couple is that they both recognize that there is a time for conversation and there is a time to just be silent. I have just spent the last five motnhs among some people who never have had an unspoken thought and it has been less than pleasing, to say the least. It is so nice to be at home (they do make you feel at home) with Charlotte and Grant and not have to fill every second with noise.
There is much more to say about these two, but there is not enough time. Examples of kindness could be compounded ad infinitum but would likely emabrrass them. Suffice it to say that they are examples of charity, in the oldest and truest sense of the word, in action. They make charity a verb instead of a noun.
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