Hot Dogs Worth the Price of Filet

This is another guest entry by my very close friend, Sarah Jurewicz.

On a recent trip to Minnesota, I spent some time on the lake. In Minnesota, this is not an atypical way to spend nice-weather days. It is true: there is a lake everywhere you look. It’s the land of 10,000 lakes and the last census identified that now there are even more than that. That’s a lot of water. A body of water is mesmerizing and perplexing – at once calm and peaceful at another time tumultuous and threatening. Mostly it is serene and tranquil to my spirit; simply by being on the water I am relaxed and happy. This last visit to the lake was a time for my partner, Kelly, to visit with her family, for her to fish (which she loves to do) and for me to read a couple of books while floating adrift on the water. The site where we stayed had many established friends of Kelly’s family and, of the four days we were there, we shared meals with them a couple of times. While most of the meals are planned events where person “A” brings a salad while person “B” brings the veggie side dish and so on, other times it may be a BYOP – bring your own plate – and all gather on someone’s deck to enjoy one another’s company while eating.

One evening Kelly and I had finished a run, in air that felt like it had half the lake water suspended in it, when we stopped in at a neighboring porch where a half dozen people were sitting, including Kelly’s parents. It was coming up on dinnertime so we decided to prepare food to eat and while we were at it, we decided to make enough to share with everyone. When we came back to the social porch with food in hand, the group was delighted! They thanked us so many times you would have thought we made them filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes and roasted asparagus (one of my personal favorite meals). The feast was hot dogs, potato salad and a mixed green salad – almost close to filet. It seemed like a simple decision to make food for everyone as long as we were preparing dinner for ourselves but their reaction to our act made it feel so much more important. As I was cleaning up after dinner I realized that all of these people, besides Kelly’s parents, are women who live by themselves at the lake. The gesture of making dinner for them was indeed one of importance because it gave them a “night off” from cooking and cleaning and allowed them to just relax and enjoy one another’s company and have someone cater to them, even if it was just hot dogs and salad. This exchange proved to me, yet again, that you never know how impactful an act, even one that seems minor and simple, can be to someone. It was no burden for us to prepare dinner for this small group of people and, if anything, their appreciation heightened the natural joy I get from making a meal for people. As usual, this act of kindness benefited not just the receiver, but also, the giver.

A Squeeze to Please

This is a guest entry by my close friend, Sarah Jurewicz.

The pedicure is an indulgence that I find both ridiculous and respectable. Spending $30+ dollars for someone to paint my toenails and buff my feet is a luxury that, although feels really good in the care of someone else’s capable hands, I do not need to spend frivolously. At the same time I understand this is a service provided that, if I can afford it, I like to use it to take 30 minutes out of my hectic schedule to sit back, relax and enjoy the mini pampering session. I have had three pedicures in my life. My most recent one came at a time when I had gotten back into running. As someone with notoriously tight calves running only increases the build-up of lactic acid, promoting even more tightness in said area of my body. This particular trip to get a pedicure was made that more amazing by the calf massage I got prior to the painting of my toenails, following the kneading of the soles of my feet. I let out a small gasp of relief when the pedicurist first moved his hands up my calf because I realized how truly tight my calves were and how good it felt to have someone else work out the tension and soreness. As I sat back through the leg massage, I thought about how simple a gesture human touch is and how much stress many of us carry which in turn is alleviated by human touch.

Following my pedicure I returned home and decided to offer neck, back, head and foot massages to those around me.  I am notorious for being a hugger. Better yet, I am often referred to as a BEAR hugger (it is my personal belief that if you are going to go in for a hug, it should be worth every ounce of comfort you can share in that friendly, oftentimes loving, exchange with another human). When I realized offering 10-15 minute massages to people could be a way to share some caring human contact, I found it would undoubtedly be a reward to me as much as it would be to the receiver. Examples of people who have already taken to my powerful hands: my better half indulged in a back and hip massage while my neighbor opted for a neck and head massage. A friend’s mom asked for an arm massage, to which I threw in some hand massaging and she was delighted at how awesome that made her feel (this woman works with her hands in a factory all day long). I have not been formally trained in osteopathic/neurological/pressure point therapy; I do not have a background in physical therapy. What I do know is what feels relaxing and relieves tension for me probably equally translates to what feels relaxing and alleviating to others. Once people get over the sometimes-awkward offer of a complimentary massage, they soon fall into a trance-like state where they let the tenseness of the day, the week or even the month release from their mind and their shoulders. Or back. Or neck. Or legs. Or, well, you get the point. This is not a scheduled action in my life but rather a recent offering to loved ones around me when they are not expecting it and when I can tell they could use some extra TLC – maybe even when I can’t tell they need it because, chances are, they probably still need it.

If you ever get the chance to offer this gesture to someone, notice the type of conversation you have while you are giving this massage. Most of the time the conversation is about uplifting and positive topics, not the things that are weighing that person down. To me this random act of kindness, without spending a single cent, becomes incredibly valuable for the physical, mental and emotional benefit it provides both the recipient and me.