Being Thankful is More Than Saying “Thanks”. How I Learned This Lesson.
I think it is wonderful that people use the month of November to list the many things they are thankful for, but what about the rest of the 11 months in the year? Being thankful is more than saying “thank you”, or even recognizing the many things we are thankful for by sharing them through posts on Facebook. I believe that we should show our thanks by living life to the fullest and through our actions every day of the year. By realizing how lucky each of us are for a variety of reasons, and living each day to the fullest, is the best thanks any of us can give anyone.
Trials and Drama
Through our lives we are faced with happy moments, and unfortunately we are also given negative trials. How we react to both forms of emotions is how we show our strength, love, and thanks. Some of us may believe that we are given more negative moments than others, but in reality, it may be the Universes way of letting us know that we need to make a change, or to remind us to live every moment being thankful for what we do have.
Getting caught up in the drama that surrounds us in our professional and personal lives can be easier than removing ourselves from the situations and telling the individuals causing the drama that although we are there for them for whatever they need, we do not want to get involved in the negative recap, but that we look forward to assisting in creating a solution.
My Son Taught the Lesson
My son was born a very healthy 8 lb. 13 oz. baby. As a new parent I did not think about what could happen in the future regarding his health. At that moment I only cared that he was born healthy with all of his toes, fingers, and typical baby fat. While celebrating his first birthday he got a cold and was h
aving a difficult time breathing. He quickly went downhill and we were rushing him to the emergency room. That day was the first of many trips to the E.R. He contracted RSV twice before the age of three, and spent weeks in the hospital because he developed asthma with every cold. He received steroids, breathing treatments, oxygen, and a plethora of medication with each visit.
His last trip was three years ago on our way back from Disneyland. We rushed him to the E.R. of the local childrens hosptial as soon as we arrived in Utah, and within hours he was in a medicated coma. Although he had the Swine Flu shot, he caught the Swine Flu along with double-pneumonia and his asthma problems. He got so bad that they had to intubate him, keep him in a medicated coma, pump his poor seven-year-old body with so many medications we lost count, and inserted a PICC line for his medications because the other methods were too harsh. They also inserted an IV, a feeding tube, a catheter, and so much more.
The Whoopee Cushion Perspective
I kept a blog during his time in the hospital to try and keep me sane while updating our friends and family. We received calls from the State Health Department frequently to check on his status, and the worst part of all was when the doctor’s told us we may never take him home. Through it all, my husband and I clung to the hope that he would recover, and when we felt true despair our son woke up and was on his way to recovery.
What put this event in perspective was when he was finally able to leave his room in a wheelchair. We pushed him through the hallways and although he was still hooked up to a handful of tubes and he was too weak to do much, he could be heard through the hospital laughing hard because he had a self-inflating whoopee cushion hidden under his blanket. Each time a nurse or visitor would bend over or walk by he would squeeze the whoopee cushion with all his might. His laughter was infectious and was one of the most wonderful sounds in the entire world.
On that same trip we went outside on a patio and there we found hundreds of different colored ribbons. Each ribbon was tied around a portion of the wire fence wishing for the recovery of other children, and several were from individuals mourning the recent death of their one. That scene made us cherish the fact that our son beat the odds even more; he was still with us.
We were not concentrating on the hell we experienced the past 14 days, we were not bemoaning the medical bills, nor were we curious about what our employers thought of our long absence. No, we were cherishing the laughter of our son, and silently wishing for the same outcome of the other children in the hospital.
Three years later my eyes still get watery thinking about that last hospital visit. I am grateful for every single day that I can hear my son’s laughter, for every time I can hug him and he will hug right back, and for the loving family we have become. Only two days before my son was on his way to recovering, a friend of mine from High School had lost his daughter who was the same age as my son, only two days before my son started showing improvement. We had not seen eachother since graduation, and 14 years later we were reunited in the ICU of the local children’s hospital. Sadly, he left without his daughter and we lost touch once again.
Cherish and Recognize
Cherishing the time you have with your family, and creating happy memories that will last a lifetime, is more important than the latest gossip at work, than the drama that is created by others, and more important than the next raise from work. You can never get years back.
Recognizing the many things we are thankful for once a year is not enough. Living our lives with the goal in mind of sharing joy is a better way of saying “Thank you for my life and for allowing me to make a difference!”
I would like to say, “Thank You” to the many higher powers for my family, for my son being the most amazing boy any parent could imagine, and for every blessing I have been given.
–Amber
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