I remember going to my grandsons’ graduation watching my daughter make all the preparations and paying for his party. She had been divorced for many years from his father that had not really been a provider.

She got a call from her x saying he couldn’t pick up the cokes for the party (the only thing he had agreed to get) because he didn’t have any money. Sweetly she said no problem she would pick them up.

It stirred up a lot of critical thinking inside me from my own past and I said “I don’t know how you do it Rene”. This guy has never given you a dime for the boy and now he won’t even pick up some cokes for his graduation.

My daughter looked me straight in the eye and said “Pray for him mother”. It must be really awful for him not to be able to do anything for his son’s graduation. I am lucky that I can support my child and myself. “Pray for him mom”. I thought “wow” she is a lot higher on that Ladder of Enlightenment than me and shut up.

One year later my grandsons’ father died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty. Whenever I get old buttons pushed I hear her words “Pray for him mother”.

Albert Einstein said “Empathy is the highest form of intelligence”. Anything else is just not smart.
*