Sicknesses, singing, sighing, seeing

Mama did not feel well last night. She had not felt badly through the day but she has the queen of all runny noses. When she bends over it produces a constant flow of mucus. I was genuinely impressed. Needless to say, that is not her preferred method of removing the contaminant. She prefers tissues; of which she has used two entire boxes in the past few days. She does have a bad habit of leaving the spent wads of used tissue lying about the house. Yesterday she collected them into a box. Of that content, I was really impressed.


I asked Mama last night as we were on our way to Wal-Mart what she has taken out of her diet or what she has added to it lately. I was asking because I have not heard her complain about her left knee hurting in the manner she had been up until several weeks ago. I would really like to find out if the swelling and associated pain is from something diet related or if it is a function of activity only.

We heard from one of the ladies at church Sunday night that her husband is not the best patient. He will sit and look forlornly at her and say, “Oh, I don’t feel good.” That, in and of itself, is not too overwhelming. It is the constant repetition that wears her down. He will apologize for complaining then continue. I can’t wait until he gets better so I can tease him about it; what are friends for?

With the drastic changes in temperature we are experiencing right now there are a lot of people sick. Most have a head cold or upper respiratory infection, but there are a few cases of the flu. None of the ailments are pleasant but, generally speaking, none is life threatening.

I woke up this morning singing “It will be worth it all”. Sometimes, being convinced of that truth is the only strength we can wrestle from difficult days. Fortunately, it is always enough – depending on where your focus is. A case in point, Maggie called me the other night to unload a little. She does not usually have trouble dealing with the times she is alone but that night seemed to be a little different.

She had found out that some work will be required of her to vacate the apartment once they get the news of Aaron’s future assignment. Maggie was complaining that now the “pregnant lady” has to do all this work. I assured her it was not a conspiracy to make her pregnancy difficult. It is a standard list. Mama and I have had to work off of that list on several occasions –twice when she was very pregnant.

To Maggie’s credit, I was close by Mama during all of those times but if I had not been, Mama had a wealth of friends who would gladly have helped her had she asked. As it stands, so does Maggie. She always comes around to the same conclusion during the times of feeling slighted, she needs to refocus. My mantra in life is “It is not about me.” I have tried to teach that to my children as I have tried to keep it in practice in my life. (Often I am a poor witness to my own beliefs.)

Maggie, like me, has discovered that when our focus is on us, nothing seems good enough. When I am the object of my greatest concern I begin to feel that I deserve better than I am getting. I need more than I have. I am more noble that those around me. I am more spiritual than those I look out upon. I am the only one really working hard. Though any of those thoughts may in rare instances be true, if I act upon any of them, the results are deeply damaging and always disastrous. So we started to count Maggie’s blessings; salvation, a good husband, a child on the way, etc.

Her future looks pretty bright to me…and to her.