Thursday, November 14, 2013

Victory over Death, and other Small Successes

The biggest small success of the week happened when my husband lost consciousness on the commuter train home. He most likely suffered a seizure, which is a known complication from the many surgeries he's undergone to remove recurring brain tumors. The doctors will probably not allow him to drive a car for six months to a year. But he's alive, and that's a victory. The seizure didn't happen while he was driving our six kids to the park. It didn't happen while he was crossing a crowded city street or when he was waiting on a subway platform, the scene of more than one tragic accident where someone falls to their death on the tracks. He was just a strap-hanger who let go of the strap and fell in the midst of caring strangers.

Someone called 911, and the police took my husband to the nearest emergency room. After a battery of tests, he'll be discharged. His doctors will come up with a plan of treatment, and we'll go on with life as close to normal as we can. Every morning will be a little Easter, a taste of Christ's victory over the grave. Every moment of routine ordinariness will be a triumph, because these moments are the building blocks of a life lived together, a life aimed at eternity.

In an intense spirit of gratitude for little and ordinary things, I am thankful that my husband took me to the movies recently to see the film based on my favorite book (science fiction, naturally):





I am thankful that my son doesn't have chicken pox, but instead has some unidentified and unidentifiable virus-that-causes-a-rash that will eventually run its course.


Could this be a possibility?


And I'm thankful that, after a brief tussle, I convinced the kind folks at Word of the Vine not to put my online speaker bio in Comic Sans font, so these scary people don't come after me (I know there must be some Catholic techies in this group because I've seen what you say on the interwebs):



So couples go to the movies, and zombies try to take over the world, and certain website designers make the world safe from offensive typefaces. Life goes on. And that's the best kind of success there is.

Part of the CatholicMom Small Success series.

Zombie Itch Photo Credit: artnoose via Compfight cc

9 comments:

  1. Glad your husband is OK! Thankful that he was surrounded by people.

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  2. That must have been so scary--God certainly put a lot of things in the right place. I recently learned that a young woman here in town just got a service dog that "detects" when she is about to have a seizure. The dog maneuvers her to a safe place (away from stairs) and makes her get low to the ground. How amazing is that? I wonder if a service dog could help your husband.
    And I know a lot of people will yell at me over this, but I've got nothing against Comic Sans. I just don't see what the big deal is.

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    1. Hopefully the medication will control my husband's seizures, but I know my son would be happy if we had to get a dog!

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  3. It is a blessing. Thanks, Colleen.

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