Yes You Can Be a Helper With Your Words And Not Your Wallet

Last week’s LAT piece on what to say and not to say to someone with a serious illness was good, but Lisa Adams’s version of it is great. A few very specific things she suggest on how to be caring and how to be helpful to a sick friend (and the subtext for me is: you do not have to send over flowers or takeout every day to be helpful):

Ask: “Do you just want me to listen or do you want my advice?”

Ask: “Has this been a good week or bad week for you?”

Say: “Do not write me a thank you note for this. Do not feel the need to answer this email. Do not feel the need to call me back.”

Ask: “How is it impacting your day-to-day life and what part of that can I help you with?”

Ask: “What is the worst part of this for you and how can I help make that a bit easier for you?”

More in her post, along with some things not to say.

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