I traveled up to the University of Iowa hospital this afternoon because a friend of mine is hospitalized there. She is just 2 or 3 years older than me. She is a single mom, who also does a lot in caring for her mother. Her son is 8 years old. She works the 3rd shift and often struggles to make ends meet. She was out mowing her lawn and felt really funny. She went in the house and fell down. Her mom called an ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital and then life flighted to the University hospital. She had a stroke. She is alive, but it remains to be seen what her condition is. I wasn't even allowed to see her, but I visited with her family that were waiting there at the hospital, along with another friend of mine.
This has really shaken me up a bit. She is not that much older than me. She is overweight like I am. She has a lot of responsibilities; so do I. I just can't believe it is all happening. Her son and her mother will really struggle if she doesn't make it. They may really struggle if she does, if she needs a lot of care, and isn't able to work anymore. It seems so unreal. And of course there are thoughts of, "that could be me".
I don't want that to be me. I am still too young. I need to be healthy. I need to do what I can to prevent this from happening. I need to be there for my family.
I feel grateful to know that this life is not the end; this is just a small part of our existance. I am glad that my family knows that too.
My life is so good. I walked into that waiting room and there were so many families there. Waiting, hoping, praying for someone they loved. My family is home, safe and healthy. There are so many people that are facing big problems. My family only has little ones.
I am glad to be alive. I am glad for my health. Even though life is fragile, it still goes on.
3 comments:
I am glad you are alive and healthy too. It is so hard to watch when bad things happen to good people. I go along thinking that if I live the way I am supposed to then I will be safe, and then you see something like that and know life can change in an instant. I used to think your mom was silly for worrying so much about life insurance because she wouldn't need to worry about providing for you guys. I had to find out the hard way that you always need to be prepared. The fine line comes when you have to be prepared but not too consumed with worry. Good luck working through all this. I love you.
Things like that are definitely very scary and eye opening. I hope your friend is ok and that she can stay around for her family.
Tammy, I think about this every day when I am working in the hospital. I am grateful for health.
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