Showing Compassion

The other day my dad had to have a medical procedure done and he took Eric with him, because no one else was home to watch him. He usually does pretty well whenever my dad takes him to appointments because he’ll just sit in the room and play with his iPad, or read a book, etc.

This time, Eric seemed more interested in what was going on and he watched closely. It would be expected that when the procedure was over, Eric’s attention would go back to his iPad. Instead, he went over to my dad and rubbed his back, where a bandage was, like he was worried about him.

Later that night, Eric was downstairs on his computer and my dad was in his bedroom watching television. For seemingly no reason at all, Eric walked upstairs into my parents’ bedroom, rubbed my dad’s back again and returned to his computer downstairs.

My dad came into the kitchen to ask my mom and I if either of us had told Eric to go check on him. We hadn’t. Eric went up on his own to make sure my dad was okay.

It’s remarkable how aware Eric is of what’s going on around him. At first, it may have seemed like he was more curious than anything about what was going on with my dad, but when he continued to check on him throughout the night, we knew that he was genuinely concerned.

I don’t think a lot of people realize how compassionate Eric is and how much he really cares about his family. I remember when we were younger and Eric saw me crying, or heard another child crying, he’d get worried and become emotional, too.

It’s been a few days since the procedure and Eric has still been checking on my dad and rubbing his back occasionally.  We never doubt that Eric cares about us, but it’s things like this that truly validate how much he loves his family. 

Eric and My Dad!