One Week

It has been one week, almost to the minute, since we left here for surgery. I’m home, with the word that it was benign, feeling like sitting upright and writing. I can only attribute that to the power of prayer, medical miracles and the skill of people willing to share their wisdom. I am astonished at how good I feel overall, here just a week out.

Last week when we left to go to the hospital, there was an ice storm underway. I’ll tell you a sight I will never forget that morning. I was sitting in the car in the driveway, warming it up before taking off, and thinking we would be the only people on the road. Then, in my rearview mirror, while I’m bundled up in my big winter coat, hat and gloves, I see a truck gliding by on the street in front of my house. As I sat there, the tail lights from my car illuminated the logo for Releaf Landscapes on Sharon’s truck. She had come over to follow us to Wichita, just in case we had some sort of difficulty, and to wait with Greg.

It’s a special category of friend who will follow you on an hour’s drive in an ice storm beginning at 3:40 in the morning, knowing the day is stretching out ahead and could be filled with trauma. I haven’t even known Sharon very long, and yet she was there with me for days after surgery, aiding me in many different ways. She was truly an angel of mercy in this whole thing. She took some of the pressure off Greg, too, and that was wonderful.

I knew she was planning to wait with Greg that day, but didn’t realize she was driving over with us. I assumed Greg had called her that morning to tell her of our preparations, but he hadn’t. She had known the time we were planning to leave and had just shown up.

One thing that has been a repeated message for me through this experience is how important it is to “show up.” Mark, Carl and Kris just “showed up” with food. Ann just showed up at the hospital the day of surgery. Visitors showed up, cards showed up, flowers showed up, prayers showed up. I need to make sure I always show up in the future.

I may not have a beautiful green leafed logo that glides by in the pre-dawn darkness on an icy morning, lit only by tail lights, but I can show up, nonetheless.
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