“Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Hey, are you just going to stay up there forever?”

“Maybe.”

So what if the sign says, “Stay off the dunes”? So what if it’s boiling hot out here in the middle of day? So what if you’re wearing long sleeves and long pants? So what if you’re just plain nuts?

“Come on. We’re leaving.”

“Go without me.”

Sigh. Do we have to go through this again? Yes, you can stay with us. No, you’re not a burden. Yes, I know you don’t have a job. No, you’re not in the way. Yes, we have room. No, we don’t hate you.

“Come on, we’re having fresh fish for supper.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Sometimes you just get dealt a bad hand. Sometimes you have to receive rather than give. Sometimes you’re the taker, not the giver.

That’s a hard message to get across. We all want to help. We all want to give. We all want to contribute.

But sometimes you need to receive. Let others give. Let them help. Be a receiver.

“Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Ok.”