The other day John and I got an email from a dear friend of ours giving us some news about another friend. The news was not so good. We were told that he had had throat cancer a few years ago and survived. But now he was suffering from 2 inoperable brain tumors. This friend did not know any more because he, like us had touch with this guy over the years. He said he got the message from this friend’s son who he still kept in touch with. It just hit John hard because they have all known each other since the first year of college. All three of them shared many memories over the years.
It is amazing when faced with someone else mortality that your problems do not seen so bad. John as you know has had a tough few months. When we heard the news, we both looked at each other and said, “well, I guess we are lucky.” That night, I said to John, tonight we have nothing to complain about. Not like our friend’s family who may just have a few weeks to spend with him.
On a lighter note today I felt like a mom watching her child go out for the first time in a long time. John has been driving short distances. Today he took the jump and drove to visit his aunt who is a distance away. He had not seen her in the nursing facility in a while. He wanted to pay her a visit and he did. It was like watching your child graduate or go out on his own for the first time. I was very happy for him. He, I think was glad to go and be on his own as well because we had been spending waaaay too much time together. You know, familiarity breeds contempt. Even though it was exhausting for him, it was another accomplishment as we try to get back to normal. As his caregiver and wife it was good for him as well as me to see him accomplish this.
