Growing with gratitude for life's challenges
Just returned from the hospital, having left my husband in the Cardiac Surgery Recovery Unit. He was not transferred to the unit until after 9:00 pm, so while I was able to see and touch him, he was not yet conscious. It is hard to pinpoint the gamut of emotions that have coursed through me […]
Read More“I’ve had this recurring dream in which we are on vacation and he leaves me – just walks away,” I tell my therapist. “I wake up in a panic, feeling abandoned.” “Oh dear,” she says. “I wonder if these dreams would change if he started looking after himself?” “Yes!” I exclaim, relieved. These are not […]
Read MorePreoccupation with my own woes blinded me to my husband’s suffering, which culminated in a heart attack on Saturday night. We are shell-shocked. “That’s what happens to caregivers,” a callous nurse commented. Am I supposed to feel guilty? Unable to either drive myself, or push my own wheelchair, I am reliant on the goodwill of […]
Read MoreUsed the ‘f’ word last night – added and ‘ing’ for extra emphasis – flung it with a full throttle hostility. It startled both my husband and myself, and we have been tiptoeing around each other ever since. It is not like me to lose my temper, or at least not to express myself with […]
Read MoreI’m seeing it now as a sitcom, you know 22 minute vignettes in which the ordinary becomes the absurd. Episode One: The Preparations Are Mighty As departure time draws near, Ric’s paper plans have overtaken the house. Meanwhile, VJ, unable to get out of bed, is trying to direct a flustered hired help to pack […]
Read MoreThe penny has dropped! Bear with me here, and I will fill you in on all the sordid details. My husband and I met online, or I should say, almost didn’t meet online because of one very crucial difference: our views on camping. He had posted that he’d love someone to burn dinner with, as […]
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One Woman's Quest II 