Saturday morning, a friend and I were standing together on a playground next to a baseball field, watching our boys play. They were playing some rockin' baseball and our team crushed the other guys. It was an unexpectedly hot day, but in the shade where we were, it wasn't bad.
After the game, I left with my kids to go off to our next event and she and her son were heading to visit a sick elderly relative.
The rest of my day was fun, shuttling kids to and from various places, running home to throw in another load of laundry here and there. At the end of the day, we went to a neighborhood party - moon bounce for the kids, beer and conversation for the parents. Great food for everyone.
My friend's day, however, took an unbelievable and tragic turn. After visiting her relative, she and her son planned to take a swim in her sister's pool. She went to the bathroom to change into her suit and was gone for an unusually long time. When they went to check on her, they found her kneeling on the floor - dizzy and disoriented. An ambulance came and took her to an emergency room. Later a helicopter came and took her to another hospital.
Now, she is unconscious in a hospital bed in another city, with bleeding in her brain from an aneurysm. I have no idea if she will live. Or if she will survive but be impaired. Or (dare I even hope?) if she will be fine.
She is a single mom to a 10-year old boy. The sole support, the only parent. The one who pays the bills and makes the lunches and helps with homework. The one who knows where the medicine is kept and when the laundry needs to be done and if the car is due for service.
But she lies in a hospital bed, unable to communicate.
How could life, on such a beautiful, end-of-summer, baseball-playing day, take such a wrong and tragic turn? Our days began the same. How could my day end with a Corona in my hand, watching my kids in a moon bounce and hers end in a helicopter, with a neurosurgeon waiting on the other end?
Why does this happen?
Why would it happen to a single mom?
I don't even remember the last thing I said to her. I don't think I said goodbye. I know I didn't thank her for standing with me at the playground, where I was watching my younger kids and the game. The view is not as good from there, and she's the only person who doesn't have to watch kids on the playground who comes over to stand with me.
It reminds me, in a way I don't want to be reminded, that there are no guarantees. Life can change in seconds. Life can end unexpectedly and all too soon.
A reminder to enjoy every blue sky and every baseball victory. Every moon bounce and every Corona. Every conversation with a neighbor and every single day spent with the kids.
Who knows when it could be the last one?
Oooof, what a kick in the gut. Resonates especially with me, as my own oldest son's day changed in an instant one morning 2.5 years ago, when he had a stroke. Our story has a relatively happy ending, in that he's by & large back to normal, though with a lifetime of blood thinners to take and residual, stubborn left-side weakness.
ReplyDeleteWe often talk about how my husband would be lost in the sauce if one day I weren't here. I really have to make him that list of accounts and passwords I've been talking about doing for, like, YEARS.
Post updates, K? Will send positive thoughts & prayers their way.
I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope she turns out to be okay. Things like that are so scary. So scary. I'm sending positive thoughts her way.
ReplyDeleteSending good thoughts and prayers their way. Thanks for writing this - it's always good to be reminded of the fragility of life to encourage us to treasure each moment.
ReplyDeleteI really hope she is okay. That is just so scary!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this hits home deep. My dad had aneuryisms. But by some totally freaky coincidence, a dentist misdiagnosed something, leading to a CAT scan, which resulted in finding the aneuryisms - before they burst. I'm praying hard for your friend (something I don't do often). This is scary.
ReplyDeleteSo sad. Many prayers and positive thoughts for your friend and her son. I hope to hear a positive update in the future.
ReplyDeleteditto what everyone else said. i can't even form sentences after reading this.
ReplyDeleteMan this sure puts the crushed chip on the floor into perspective.. Tons of prayers coming her and her little boys way.. And hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your friend. My thoughts and prayers go out to her, her family and those close to her.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this story because it provides such key perspective. I will pray for your friend.
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