A Reminder to Be Thankful For Our Many Blessings

Long-time readers will be aware that my wife has lung carcinoma. The cause is not smoking, radiation or other environmental factors. Due to the family history of breast carcinoma, my wife underwent a prophylactic mastectomy shortly after we got married. After thinking we had dodged the bullet for 16 years, her doctors discovered that she was suffering from a form of genetic lung cancer.

In reality, my wife was called by the Mayo Clinic on the same day. Doctors were transferring me to a cardiac ICU unit, not expecting that I would live. It will not be long before I hear the words “the next 24hrs” once again. I initially thought that CrossFit was a disadvantage. Then, what I assumed were allergies which made it hard to breathe became an intrusion of blood clots.

2016 was a crazy 24 hours. Now, that’s all behind us. My wife is taking a daily pill to prevent her lung cancer from expanding. A lung scan last week showed no evidence of growth. The tumors are too small and innumerable to be removed, but the miracle pill stops them growing. The pill will eventually stop working. We all know that. My wife has her quarterly scans with metronomic regularity. We are still waiting. Sometimes we feel a little stressed. We then exhale a sigh relief.

Due to COVID-19 along with my wife’s conditions, last year we were quite isolated. All the grocery shopping was done by me. I visited three to four grocery stores every week for groceries. Some items were not in stock for weeks. For Thanksgiving, we didn’t travel. To avoid getting sick, I covered up, washed, cleaned up, and tried to stay away from everyone. It was not my intention to transmit a deadly virus to my wife.

We received the vaccine this year. We all received the vaccine: my wife, our children, and me. The vaccine was effective, we know. It turned out that our children had mild COVID-19 symptoms before being vaccinated. My wife and I were not affected. After antibody testing, we discovered that COVID-19 was responsible for strange symptoms in our children. He got COVID-19 from my father in August. We shared a hotel room together. I never got it. A month ago, my wife and I received the booster shot.

All of this gets to this point — three weeks ago, my wife ventured out of the house to a quilting conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Since COVID-19 she hadn’t been away on a trip alone. Even then, it was close to home. My children and I went to Louisiana with my dad for his 82nd birthday. Last week we had an early Thanksgiving when my family and I gathered at a table together.

It is healing all around us. The world heals much slower than we want. However, after one year of being in relative isolation we are able to see each other now. Some people have never given up on that dream. Due to our health, it was necessary. COVID-19 is still a constant and unending fear for many. This is no longer the case. We do not hide behind masks. Smile. It’s a time to gather with our family and friends. Our family is so grateful for modern medicine and our nation’s friends.

These days, the country is deeply divided. Social media has made it clear that people want to remain angry and to continue to draw more lines. They are always trying to box one another in, never being open to empathy and grace. A world that lacks empathy and grace will have less to be thankful about. However, truly difficult situations and phrases like “cancer”, “the next 24hrs” will change the way you see life and help to make it more meaningful.

Although the country is currently divided, you have the option to choose whether or not to join it. It is easy to isolate and divide using the protocols associated with COVID-19. My family chose to come together and be grateful.