It’s Awareness, Not Ignorance, That’s Blissful

TWO PAGES FORWARD IN THIS ISSUE OF INSIGHT YOU’LL HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF READING ABOUT GINGER DOWDLE. SHE’S ABOUT AS UNASSUMING AS ONE CAN BE, YET SHE’S AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN WHOSE CARE AND LOVE FOR OTHERS IS INFINITE.

Ginger has been presented NAR’s ultimate honor: a Good Neighbor Award. When I first heard this story of her remarkable compassion about six weeks ago, it touched me that someone still could be so unselfish and so giving in a society seemingly overrun today by selfishness and a “me first” attitude.

Maybe it was my own eyesight that was skewed – I’m still a journalist deep down, and we media folks tend to fall a shade on the cynical side – but my perspective has changed (very much for the better) in the past month or so.

My wife, Kim, had major surgery on Oct. 23. We knew this time in our lives was coming; what we didn’t expect was the outpouring of love, prayer and acts of service that has humbled us

The numbers tell the story.

61 Percentage of Generation X and Generation Y members who say they’ll be ready to buy when they’ve landed a secure job, according to a Better Homes and Gardens real estate survey of about 1,000 people ages 18 to 35.

12 Percent faster that homes described as being in “move-in condition” sell than homes listed without those words, according to a recent study by a professor of real estate.

20 Percentage of consumers who, when inquiring on their own, will likely receive a credit score different from the one given to lenders, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

14 Percentage of all home sales that were short-sale transactions during January through the May time period, according to RealtyTrac.

12 Percent of REALTORS® who update their home seller clients on a daily basis on what they were doing with their listings, according to a study conducted by the University of Central Florida’s Department of Psychology and Merge.

both. From cards and flowers to visits and meals, it’s been overpowering. The support has been felt from numerous states and even time zones, and has come not only from family, friends and co­workers but from caring individuals that I didn’t even know knew us.

While this isn’t my first rodeo with illness affecting someone that I deeply love, I’ve always considered myself fortunate in that, at 51, I haven’t experienced as much such heartache as others I know. I’d thought of myself as blissfully ignorant. Now, I realize I’ve just been ignorant.

That’s because I’d lost touch with much of the inherent goodness that flows through human beings. By nature, I’m an introvert. But during an intense couple of weeks at Duke Hospital, I found myself engaging in – and even prompting –conversations with strangers in elevators, waiting rooms and hallways. Maybe I needed a friend. Maybe they did. Maybe we needed each other.

Ginger Dowdle gets “it.” My guess is that many of you get “it.” I’m just now joining you, better late than never. v