While We Wait · Conversations with Catina

While We Wait

I’ve been thinking about something lately that I’m not sure I have an answer to.

How do we show up for someone we love while they’re waiting?

Waiting on test results. A diagnosis. A decision. An answer that could change things.

Because when you love someone, you’re waiting too.

You’re concerned. You think about them. You want to check in and ask if they’ve heard anything. You want to help. And, if we’re being honest, part of you probably wants reassurance too.

But here’s where I think it gets tricky…

How do we let someone know, “I’m here. I care. I haven’t forgotten what you’re going through,” without making them responsible for managing our worry too?

I don’t want silence to feel like I don’t care.

But I also don’t want my concern to become one more thing they have to carry.

And sometimes the waiting looks different.

Sometimes we’re waiting for news. Sometimes we’re waiting for someone else to make a decision. And sometimes we’re waiting because we’ve already done everything that’s ours to do for the moment.

That last kind might be the hardest.

Maybe sometimes showing up isn’t fixing anything or even knowing what to say.

Maybe it’s simply making sure someone knows they don’t have to sit in the uncertainty alone.

I don’t have this one figured out, so I’d genuinely love to hear from you:

When you’ve been the person waiting, what made you feel supported? And what do you wish people had done differently?

3 comments

While We Wait