A long while back I had a written a post about two women, both economically backward, who had been given a hard time by their menfolk. Now I want to post about a man who is the antithesis of their menfolk.
He--let us call him N--is a gardener and general odd job man and must be in his early 70s. He and his wife have no children. Around 5 years ago, his wife suffered a stroke. Apparently she is somewhat paralysed on her right side. Now it is N who takes care of her with the help of his neighbours. For a while immediately after her stroke, he could not come to work at all. As he is a hard working gardener, even in his own home and has a green thumb (I've yet to see a plant that he has planted/replanted, die), he managed to get by, eventually selling a small piece of land near his house too. Now he comes to work only 3 or 4 days a week because he says he can't always depend on his neighbours to take care of his wife. He helps her bathe, cooks the food for her and leaves it in such a way that she can reach for it when she is alone, and then goes back and cleans up. Till his wife had her stroke, he was nothing extraordinary and spending some of his daily wages on a stiff drink on his way home from work. But now he hurries home after work. Kudos to N and many other such unsung heroes.