Sharing Skills

Being sick is always frustrating. I've got the same runny nose/sneezing/achey issue I had just last month, and I want to shake my fist at the world and say, "Enough's enough, already!" However, being sick has given me a reason to think about this post.

Before I got into this relationship with Dr. Light, I always knew that a marriage was a partnership. As in, you split the bills, help each other when needed, and give each other emotional support. But it wasn't until recently that I began to see it as much more, as a sharing of skills.

Dr. Light is a pharmacist in a hospital ICU, meaning instead of just dispensing drugs to the public, he goes on rounds with doctors and recommends changes to medication, helps administer drugs during codes (when someone's heart fails or something), and keeps an eye on charts to make sure that no drug overlaps are occurring. He works with different medications every day, meaning he's got a much broader range of commonly-talked-about drugs than most doctors do.


Source
Needless to say, it's pretty neat.

What I hadn't expected, however, was the way he is so happy to help out my friends and family with drug questions. A few months ago he recommended my sister ask her doctor about a certain drug when she had a toothache that just wouldn't quit. So she did, and you know what? Instead of having a root canal, her mouth got better!!

Just now, he and I chatted about the difference between Sudafed and the off-brand I had to pick up at the convenience store under my work, and he made me feel better about what I had chosen.

Other friends of mind have texted and called him before to make sure that they can drink while taking a certain medication or see if it reacts badly.

Why is this all relevant? Because his willingness to share himself and his knowledge has helped bring him closer to my friends and family. It's not that they're using him for his knowledge - it's more the attitude he has that he will help out whenever he can. It's helped my friends and family get to know him better and trust that he's someone who is good for their friend/daughter/relative.

I really hope that some time I can bring the same kind of benefit into HIS circle, be it through my library school education, my sewing knowledge, or some other facet of the Lilac world that I don't know could be helpful.

It's so great to see how we affect each other's worlds just beyond the immediate partner. Have you discovered something while being engaged or in a long term relationship that surprised you in a positive way?