My family was given a gift
a few weeks ago
wrapped
in a most unusual
package…
It was scary, surprising, relieving and I am sure if you asked my husband damn annoying, but nevertheless, this package came to us with a hope and a sense of relief albeit tainted with a little worry but above all for me, gratefulness that my husband was not taken from me earlier than he needed to be.
A few weeks ago now by what we thought was sheer accident or maybe not…perhaps the universe found us a way, by manifesting symptoms of headaches my husband was sent to have an MRI which showed a cyst inside his head, somewhat non invasive and nothing really to worry about, however this MRI also showed up something we never would have known about – an ‘old stroke’
“How old”? I questioned Bill’s doctor this week. Apparently they cant tell but its definitely older than 12 months and could have been up to quite a few years ago. So that tells me that had this stroke been more severe our lives would look very different right now.
My father died from a stroke at 79 years of age. My brother died suddenly at 40 years. His cause of death was never determined however it was heart or cardiovascular related. To have my husband dealt with the same blow would be devastating but this week we learnt that with just a bit of effort, Bill gets the greatest opportunity not bestowed to many others who walk this earth, a second chance, a gift, that if he follows a few new rules, his risk will be lowered significantly.
My husband is not particularly pleased with his new diagnosis. Its a harsh reminder that he is not young anymore, that he has already lived more than half of his life and that unless he now consciously takes better care of what he puts into his body, it may betray him with the threat of a more serious stroke, heart attack or premature death.
Tonight I was listening to an old song on my drive home from work called ‘100 years’ by Five for Fighting, you can listen to it at the end of this post – Its a beautiful reminder that we sometimes get complacent and let each stage of our lives pass us by without cementing it with our dreams or wonderful memories and somehow on this journey of ours we get so bogged down in the mundane that we assume that we are going to live forever, forgetting that our time here on earth is limited and incredibly precious.
Of course none of us know when our last breath will come, but one thing I am determined to do for the rest of my life is live my life as fully as I possibly can, learn new things, travel to new places and embrace new ideas.
I am going to wake up tomorrow and the next day and the day after that and really enjoy being 51 for a moment, next week, and another 9 months because no sooner will I have blinked, or taken time for granted then I will find myself at 52 doing it all over again. Its time to make each and every day count and forever be grateful for the best gift I was ever given, my best friend, my love and the man I promised to walk this journey beside me till death do us part….
Tonight, I dedicate my 70th blog post with this little song to my husband who I pray will be by my side for many more years yet with a gentle reminder to never forget – the gift you have been given is a second chance…its up to you what you do with it xx
100 Years…take a moment to listen xx