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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Things that make you think

Recently, friends of ours lived through an extremely traumatic event and then witnessed a miracle. I won't go into details because I received the information by a 3rd party who heard it from another 3rd party, but the gist of the story is that their baby wandered into the pool, was under water for a minute until they noticed she was there, and was brought back to life. The miracle is made even sweeter by the fact that the doctors say there was not a single shred of damage done.

I had a very difficult time digesting this story. Even though this "horror story had a happy ending", as the father told a friend, I was deeply disturbed. I couldn't help but think how sick I would feel if I had lived through something so traumatic. I hate to admit it, but my first thoughts were harshly judgmental (this is a side effect of growing up with an extremely judgmental mother. I am constantly trying to better myself in this area, however, sometimes I screw up). I then immediately said to myself, "How dare you!" This was an accident that could have happened to anyone. In an instant, anything can happen to anyone.

I cannot pinpoint exactly why, but this bittersweet story has left a scar on my heart. Maybe it's because I have to leave my own kids each day, for what feels like days on end, and not know each moment what they are doing or where they are. While my husband is more than capable of caring for the kids and should get the dad of the year award, I can't help but feel like a bad mom because I'm not there. I've always felt a little pang of this in the past, but after hearing this horrific story, I feel it on a higher level.

I will close by saying that I hope this family does not dwell on the bad part of the story, but on the very happy ending. Life is so precious and short. I hope I think of this story every time I start taking something for granted.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." -- Buddha