Pardon me as I drag my soapbox out from the closet and wearily climb on top. From this perspective I am obliged to remind all who read this of the importance in taking an honest minute to appreciate what is important to you in this life. Afterall, the holiday season is coming down the track like a loaded coal train off Angora hill.
Sadly, it is the serious moments in life that force most of us, we are no exception, to ponder the words “giving thanks.” While doing chores on Sunday morning the warmth of the rising sun, partnered with the lack of wind, put my mental transmission in to neutral. The horses were not fussing as they are prone to do before feeding time; the utterly unnatural silence created an opportunity for appreciating all of what I am allowed to enjoy.
We tend to remain very private about our personal existence so it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that you may not have been aware of Charlene’s physical struggles this summer and fall. Just before the East Point Horspice open house in June, Charlene was struck down with debilitating back pain, so much so that she became restricted to a wheelchair for a brief time. Our summer was then consumed with multiple hospital stays, doctor’s appointments, daily infusions of antibiotics all to combat her diagnosed MRSA infection deep in her spine. Nobody can conclude how she contracted it and what exactly the future will hold, but please know she improves incrementally every day and hopefully this nightmare will be but a memory. She is upright and walking more effectively these days and feels she is improving; hopefully there will not be another relapse. With the associated aches, pains, struggles to get out of chairs and the required regime of prescribed drugs and supplements, Charlene claims she went from 53 to 103 overnight. From my perspective, I can’t argue the description. I often refer to her as my “hamster in the wheel” and if you are fortunate enough to really know her you can understand how difficult it has been for her to restrict physical activities. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? The matriarch of EPH, Charlene, proves her strength with each new day. Perhaps the key is to keep moving forward at whatever pace you can comfortably maintain. Even if today seems restrictively slow, remember that it is most likely quicker than before and through faith, assistance of wonderful friends, and re-defined determination the trend is in the right direction.
So, with the sun on my face and the horses chewing contently in the feeders, I proclaim my thanks for the horses, the unexpectedly beautiful weather and the fact that Charlene and I are able to continue our existence on this planet together with our growing family – not necessarily in that order. By accepting the daily drudgery of chores, I was afforded a remarkable moment of clarity to stop and smell the roses. Our hope is that you allow yourself a brief period of acceptance and reflection and do the same. I just need to avoid stepping in one of the piles of roses petals distributed by the horses.