We made it to the second week of school before my daughter had to come home because she wasn’t feeling well. For a child with multiple medical needs, this isn’t something new.

Her health has been stable for the past few years, so I was a little surprised that in the middle of a week with hot weather she would become congested, but she did.

When I was in school my mom had a special way of folding a blanket on the couch. We read books and watched TV. I’m sure she made soup and gave us plenty of liquids too.

It was where we belonged when we weren’t feeling well. I believe it helped us heal. It also made us know how valuable we are.

It seems that as we get older we experience more of life from both tragedies and triumphs. If it isn’t our own, it is someone we know.

Even here in our own community: a father with cancer, a four-year-old with a tumor, and recently, a mother killed while walking down a road at night.

With those tragedies I have witnessed an outpouring of love from a grief stricken community. From gathering meals, to helping with farm chores, to helping children spend a week in Disneyland with their dad.

That is what community is about. It’s about sharing a meal, a smile or a warm coat. We believe in comfort. We pray for healing. We always hope for love.

This isn’t always going to be the case. There will be families who take these journeys alone. There are some who will find their strength in the quietness of their home instead of a casserole on their porch.

I pray that is the exception, not the rule. Let us raise our next generation to be full of care. Let’s teach our young ones to be “sitters.”

You know, “sitters” are the folks who come in the dark hours and sit with you. They don’t say much, they don’t try to fix it or minimize it or take over – they just sit.

Sometimes they hold hands and sometimes they wipe down counters or make coffee. We don’t notice them like we do the fundraisers or the meal monitors, but in the sitting, in the listening, in the quiet, they give strength.

Sitters give comfort like a folded blanket on the couch.

We need more sitters.