Many people have remarked to me lately how health issues like mine make us stop and prioritize a little - keep things in perspective. What many don't realize is we went through that process nearly fifteen years ago and our priorities have been pretty straight ever since.
It was a beautiful summer day in 1994 when my
husband started complaining of an ache in his arms. We didn't think much of it at first - after all, he was only 43 years old! But when he woke me at two in the morning announcing back pain that was keeping him awake, my EMT training kicked in and I called the ambulance. A quick trip to Southampton Hospital confirmed my worst fears - he was having a heart attack. What followed was a wildly emotional, terrifying week as we went from the ICU in Southampton to quadruple by-pass surgery at St. Francis. I went to bed every night that week wondering if he would still be alive when I woke the next morning. At the time our four children ranged in age from 10 to 20 years. How would I ever manage on my own? He was the love of my life and I was devastated.
By the time he fully healed, we'd been changed forever. Never again would his work take precedence over his family. And neither of us would ever again take the other for granted as we are so apt to do when in a long-term relationship like ours. We learned our lesson then and we've done a pretty good job of keeping it close to our hearts. We take every opportunity to enjoy our family and friends and we always put people first. We've learned to place our lives completely in God's hands because none of us is promised tomorrow - we are only given today. And we want to make sure that what we do with today is fully and completely in God's will. There's no place that either of us would rather be.
So, for us at least, heart attacks and cancer are nothing more than inconveniences in life, and they are merely "blips" in the grand scheme of things. As long as we can keep our perspective clear, our priorities in order, and our sense of humor intact, we can deal with anything. A life lesson we learned a long time ago...but a little reinforcing never hurts. This latest adventure has been a good reminder.
It was a beautiful summer day in 1994 when my
husband started complaining of an ache in his arms. We didn't think much of it at first - after all, he was only 43 years old! But when he woke me at two in the morning announcing back pain that was keeping him awake, my EMT training kicked in and I called the ambulance. A quick trip to Southampton Hospital confirmed my worst fears - he was having a heart attack. What followed was a wildly emotional, terrifying week as we went from the ICU in Southampton to quadruple by-pass surgery at St. Francis. I went to bed every night that week wondering if he would still be alive when I woke the next morning. At the time our four children ranged in age from 10 to 20 years. How would I ever manage on my own? He was the love of my life and I was devastated.By the time he fully healed, we'd been changed forever. Never again would his work take precedence over his family. And neither of us would ever again take the other for granted as we are so apt to do when in a long-term relationship like ours. We learned our lesson then and we've done a pretty good job of keeping it close to our hearts. We take every opportunity to enjoy our family and friends and we always put people first. We've learned to place our lives completely in God's hands because none of us is promised tomorrow - we are only given today. And we want to make sure that what we do with today is fully and completely in God's will. There's no place that either of us would rather be.
So, for us at least, heart attacks and cancer are nothing more than inconveniences in life, and they are merely "blips" in the grand scheme of things. As long as we can keep our perspective clear, our priorities in order, and our sense of humor intact, we can deal with anything. A life lesson we learned a long time ago...but a little reinforcing never hurts. This latest adventure has been a good reminder.
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