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BEYOND THE INITIAL SHOCK
After we got Terry through her first day of radiation and chemo and comfortably home once again, I spent my day tending to many details of our household that had long wanted attention. I found it a great way to observe my birthday given the circumstances of the moment. It was comforting to take on some things that I could actually control. I met with AAA and saved a bundle of money on our car insurance. I got the oil changed in our car. I tended to some pressing needs for Terry's parents and I went shopping for groceries since we were out of many staple items.
A member of my church called me while I was in the grocery store. She wanted to wish me a happy birthday and she wanted to check in and see how we were doing. In the midst of the conversation she remarked that this is when life gets real. She said, "We like to think that life is easy and fun and should be that way all of the time. But life is frequently hard and we need our family, friends and church to help us get through it."
She is correct, and here is why. Returning to my controlling metaphor, if life is lived in the tension between danger and home we must be careful lest danger comes to dominate our lives. Evil does that. It seeks to push out everything until we can see nothing else. Navigating through danger requires that we never loose sight of home. That is were the loving support of family, friends and church comes in.
Yesterday I set about to be in charge of the things I could manage. It helped me remember that we still have a life to live and love to celebrate. It helped me keep the danger of this moment in perspective. Wandering down an aisle in Kroger, I was close to losing that balanced perspective. Then a friend called and helped me regain my grip. If you wonder, "What can we do to help?" that is it.
Dave Gladstone