Room With A View

So my Mom is in the hospital (this picture is the view from her room).  At some point last Tuesday, probably in the morning, my 79-year-old Mother fell down; the problem is, no one knew until Wednesday night. Thankfully, a curious housekeeper in her retirement apartment building noticed she hadn’t picked up her morning paper for two days, she told her boss and her boss checked in on her.  Mom, ever the proud Brit, shooed away help, but the boss-lady called my Sister who called me (I live about three blocks away) and I went to see her. 

It was an indelible and startling experience opening my Mom’s door to see her lying on the floor, ashen gray and helpless. I did what I could, even prayed over her and after some resistance, she agreed to let me call 9-1-1; in a matter of minutes four paramedics were there. Soon she was in the ER and with my Sister and I by her side (our Dad has long since been dead).  After many tests they discovered that she had shattered her left humorous in seven or eight pieces; I swear it looked like it could have been an Evel Knievel x-ray! She was also severely dehydrated and extremely confused as well as other things.

This whole experience is yet another reminder how precious life is and how precious our loved ones are.  Is there someone you haven’t said, “I love you” to in a while?  Is there a widow or widower sitting alone with nothing but a microwave meal and Andy Griffith reruns?  Is there reconciliation that needs to happen?  If so, then I ask is mowing the lawn or doing the dishes so all-important that you just can’t spare even a few moments to go and visit these loved ones?  I know the myriad of life’s details can be so consuming and our to-do lists so daunting, but most of those things will be there tomorrow or even next week, but your loved one may not be. 

Think about it, stuff vs. relationship.  Stuff may not talk back or ask for help, but it will demand your time and your energy; sometimes so much so that we don’t have the time or energy to do what really matters—be with those we love.

Therefore consider it okay to set aside the dishes or let the lawn go another day or two and use that time to make that phone call, send that card or email, or even go visit in-person, because tomorrow is not guaranteed, but dirty dishes and growing grass are.