I am not what most would think of as an emotional woman. I am not cold by any means but I am not the kind that cries at weddings (except my sister's) or at movies (well, once in a great while). I had three experiences today that had me in tears.
The first was when I was reading the local paper. There was a story on the front page that told about one of the local middle school's helping one of their 6th graders. It caught my attention because there was a picture of a mom who looked ill hugging a little boy. The story went on to tell the tale of this poor family stricken first by the 6th grade boy's mysterious ailment. He started having horrible seizures. He even got a concussion from one at school. The doctor started him on drug therapy for epilepsy but that quickly made things worse. More tests were done and an abnormality in his brain was found. They said that even if they operated, he wouldn't be much better off.
I started crying at the thought of how I would feel if this happened to either of my boys. Then, to make the crying increase, I read on to find out that the mom was soon diagnosed with breast and lymphatic cancer. Those poor people! They talked about how wonderful it is that the kids at school keep sending baskets of games, videos and treats for the boy. They also had a fund raiser and the nice little 6th graders pitched in their own money. One of the local banks started a fund for the family also. They started an account in their honor with $200 to start. They encouraged local families to send donations. I am definitly talking to my husband tonight about how much to send.
The next tear inducing experience was reading Janders article about having lost her baby due to premature labor. More tears. I think every day how incredibly fortunate I am but this sort of thing really slaps me across the face and tells me "you have no right to ever feel badly about your life". Janders, if you are reading this, best wishes.
Lastly, I made the mistake of turning on Oprah. Her show was about survivor stories. I only survived the first story. It was about a beautiful teen girl who was horribly burned in an automobile accident. A drunk driver was at the wheel. She was unconcious for months. Her ears, nose, lips, etc were gone. She talked about how in her mind she is still the same beautiful girl. She feels trapped in her body. Oh my heart!
Days like this leave me feeling incredibly fortunate. I try not to worry about these things happening to me but know that they can. I hug and kiss my husband and children and thank the powers that be that I have the wonderful life that I have.