Friday, June 15, 2012

Trying to Find My Rose-Colored Glasses

We take things for granted. We're healthy, for the most part. We have a nice home. We have clothing in excess. We have many luxuries: Ipad, Kindle Fires, fancy DSLRs, laptops, Roku, cable TV...so much more.

My kids need nothing more. They have everything they need, yet they still ask for more and more wants. They are supremely lucky, but, as kids are, they don't know how lucky they are. They have friends who have been adopted out of terrible conditions. Heck, they have a family member adopted out of less-than-ideal conditions. I tell them the stories, and they seem grateful for a moment, then the greed monster reappears.

I'm glad they don't know hardship, but I still want them to appreciate what they have; how lucky they are in this life.

These last several months have been hard on my husband, my kids, his family. It's not been easy on me either, but nothing like what my husband and his parents have endured. Craig's favorite aunt passed in September. His brother passed in February.

The end of May brought emergency surgery to save my father-in-law's life. The surgeons removed his colon and some of his small intestine. A second surgery the next day removed more small intestine.

A few days later I took D to the ER for an ear infection. (It was Sunday, the ER is the only option here on Sundays.)

A couple of days later I was at our family med office and getting a chest x-ray. I had the start of pneumonia.

Yet we're still lucky. My father-in-law, after a week of sedation, is starting to come around. He will have a colostomy bag for the remainder of his life. Ear drop antibiotics cleared up D's ear canal. Antibiotics and a lot of rest have me almost totally recovered from my bout of pneumonia.

Yesterday, my father-in-law walked in the halls of the hospital with the aid of a walker. I remember the pain of abdominal surgery and trying to get up to walk. He is doing well, even with setbacks.

While we were walking with my father-in-law, we saw a nest on the window sill with 2 baby robins. They were fuzzy and lively and adorable. Life, proven that it still exists.

I am thankful my kids can enjoy their grandparents still, though I had my kids much later than my parents did. I'd lost all of my grandparents by the age of 18, and they were all fairly young. I hope that my kids will not see more loss for many more years.

We miss my brother-in-law. We miss Craig's aunt.

We miss.

1 people like me!:

S said...

What a hard year it's been for you all. I'm so sorry.

 
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