"Fairy tales are full of stories about the burden of gratitude borne toward one who has saved your life. The stories detail the lengths the saved will go to acknowledge that debt, for the saved know the fragility of what was nearly lost. The saved know the critical moment in which life becomes death, know that grace and courage must intercede forcefully because the water rushing over the cliff has tremendous momentum. The save know the value of the one who sees past good cheer, stops by once a day, offers a loan, blocks the blow. The saved know and can't express their gratitude adequately.
We are always saving one another. Sometimes we are aware of it; we notice the cost to our reserves even as we pay it. Other times we are unaware that we have grown wings, swooped someone from danger without ever glancing behind or feeling the weight of our temporary feathers. But the saved know, and so the stories accumulate...
Some acts can never be acknowledged adequately; they are gifts. It is these that stretch the hearts of the giver and the receiver, that call out for metaphor, for the stories and fables we read to our children as instruction. You will be called upon to give beyond your means, to sacrifice for others who may never know it was your lifeblood that revived their own. In this way, we humans become great. In this way, we understand love."
Patricia Weaver Francisco, Telling
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