What a Good Scare Can Do

It has been an incredibly BLECH couple of weeks. The week after Christmas Kate had a major asthma flare up and was coughing herself sick. On New Year's Eve, I got the stomach flu and was sick for almost a whole week. And on Friday, Jeff fell down the basement stairs. I was literally sitting down and doing some reading for my Leadership Northwest Indiana course and thinking "Wow! Maybe, things are going to calm down now. I'm feeling better. Kate's feeling better." And then I heard Jeff falling down the stairs and screaming.

I can't tell you how I got from the chair and down the stairs to him so quickly. The adrenalin must have kicked in big time. I've never heard Jeff scream like that. . . ever! He fell from the top step and landed on his tale bone at the bottom of the stairs. Oh, the irony! He hurt his tale bone, the greatest source of my chronic pain. I couldn't believe it. I laid with him on the floor wanting to suck the pain out of him. I wanted to trade places with him. I'm used to being the one in pain and Jeff being my strong, healthy rock. I realized in those early minutes just how much I love Jeff and want to protect him from anything that hurts him.

Fortunately, Jeff seems to be suffering from a bruised tale bone, no broken bones, etc. Not that he went to the doctor to get checked out - nope, he is way too stubborn for that. He's hurting though. It hurts mostly when he sits. Boy, do I know how that feels! The most interesting thing for me is that because of the past three years of pain, I have such deep compassion for people who are in pain, even for people I don't know. It is a compassion I would not have to this degree if I hadn't experienced chronic pain. I guess you could say its a gift I'll always be able to give the people around me.

A good scare like what happened to Jeff makes me realize how fragile the people around us really are - they are loaned to us for such a brief time. I'll try hard not to forget this! That's what a good scare can do - ground us in the reality that life is short. Love the people around you with all your heart. Take good care of them and take good care of yourself!