Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The World, the movement, the moment

In a split second it happens, an accident, a thing so distressful, so fraught with pain. It happens every day to someone, someplace. We all can have it change our lives, either in good ways or in painful, debilitating ways. It happened this weekend to me in several ways.

I was having a very large party, a fund raiser at my house and my friend from CA came to visit to enjoy the weekend and get to know some people. We were changing lights at the house and had already done the 18 feet high lights, we were on the last light to work on, which was about 7 feet on the house. I bent down to get the light bulb to put in my pocket and she was placing the ladder where needed it to be for best access. As I was getting up from reaching in the bag, she was already on the ladder, three rungs up. It was in slow motion that I saw it all unfold, the ladder slipping away from her and the house, her head and face rushing for the wall, and then I heard it happen, the delayed thunk of face hitting wall and neck being bent at unnatural angles. I thought for a moment that she had broken her neck. I was so afraid at that moment, there was no movement from her. I rushed into the house and screamed for my roommate to call 911, I rushed back to her and she started to move a little.

She had landed on the ladder and was laying on it so we got her off of the ladder and found that she was cut and couldn't move her arm. We heard the Sirens as they roared closer to us and we knew that help was on the way. Sweet Sounds of a Firetruck. They truly are heroes!

We spent all day in the hospital, but they finally released her with some prescriptions for pain. She ended up with 8 stitches, dislocated shoulder, fracture shoulder, blown out Orbital Bones and bruises ALL over. We were lucky, she would mend over a course of time. She was an excellent patient.

That same day, as I am dealing with the hospital, worried about my friend, trying to get the details for the party all set, I received a phone call that everyone in their lives worries about getting. It was my mother who was so upset, she had news that she knew I had to hear, right at that moment. The dreaded words that send cold water into your veins, "Your sister has Uterine Cancer, they do not know what stage it is at" I thought my heart had fallen to the bottom after the fall, but I was mistaken, the heart is bigger than one expects, it fell, crashed and burned. I called my sister, who also gave me the news, I told her that I would be her positive Coach and we would see her through this passage of time. I told her that Cancer did not define her existence, it was a thing in her body and we would fight it with every ounce that we had. I told her that as she did all the traditional treatment for her body to get through it, I would research for any information that I could find about alternative options to keep her body healthy. I am afraid but I will not show her, I will be her strength and someone who helps her see the light through this. I will be this person for both her, her husband and my parents. I will become the expert so I know what to expect and I will be joining a lot of support groups to better understand my enemy.

What about a life changing moment day, what about waking up and not knowing all of the transitions that your life could take. That is what I have come to expect about life. I breathe, therefore, it will be an exciting ride, many ups and some downs, some valley's that need to be conquered and explored, some peaks that need to celebrated and above all, some special people that need a helping hand to hold on to as they travel their lives path. That is why we exist, it is to share these moments, these passages with our loved ones, no matter what it lays out before us. That is courage, that is faith, that is Love!

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