Today a great life lesson was learned. When everyone gets consumed in to the little details and stressors of everyday life, we tend to take things for granted. What I experienced today made me realize how much I take for granted and how precious life really is and how important loved ones are. Here is my story.....
Today I had this woman patient walk in to my office. She was here for her 6 month routine check-up and cleaning. She is an existing patient that I have gotten to know now for the past 4 years. She is a little older than me and has married her best friend and has a little 5 year old girl. I am slightly envious of her cute, sassy style and personality. And hope to one day be similar to her in having a family out in the burbs but still the "cool mom".
She walks in and I ask, "How have you been? Any exciting things going on?". I thought she was going to tell me about her fun vacation plans to sea world like in the past. But she pauses and says, "Well, nothing exciting really. My husband died a month or so ago." This news really caught me off guard. I definitely didn't expect that response to my question. And when she said it, she sounded really strong and reserved about her response. I really felt for her like she was one of my friends, maybe because I envied her so much. I explained how sorry I was to hear about that and tried my best to comfort her as much as I could. I mentioned a book that a friend had told me about when a family member was battling cancer. A book called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It is about a man dealing with cancer and preparing his family for his death. I don't know if it would help her or maybe she can relate to the book because of what she went through and is going through. And as I am telling her this my eyes became heavy and watered up. She saw me and started to get teary eyed too! I grabbed a tissue to give to her and said, "I may need one of those too".
It really made me think about how I have taken so many things in life for granted. The food that I eat, my apartment, my family....everything! More importantly how life's too short to treat someone mean, rude or unfriendly, because they could be gone tomorrow. My dad has been through the battle of cancer and looking back, I took it for granted. I just expected him to just get though the surgery, everything will be fine and he will be back to being my dad in no time. Also, I remember thinking, my dad is my rock, he will get through this, he has to live forever!
Now, I feel so foolish for thinking that, because anything could have happened. And I should appreciate my parents a lot more than I do. So, I encourage you, if you haven't already, to read the book. It's well worth the read!
Rhinestone Cowgirl
No comments:
Post a Comment