Another crises averted ...
Honey Gail was visiting Karen's house nearby when I called for help. Within minutes both girls hurried in the door. Blood pressure was immediately taken, and my unruly pulse was counted over and over again - one girl calling out numbers, the other writing them down - as Karen tried to guess what might be wrong and treat me.
"Mama," she fussed, "you're in trouble and if only you'd go to the emergency room and get lab work done, doctors would know what to do for you. This guesswork I'm doing may not work,"
But, no, I wouldn't go to the hospital.
And, thank God, her guessing worked just fine.
This is the second time Karen has saved my life. Does that mean she owns me now?
I wonder ...
An old Chinese proverb says, "When you save a life you inflict that person's continued existence upon the world. Whatever he or she does from that point on - be it good or evil - it's all your responsibility."
If Karen had been familiar with that teaching, would she have struggled so hard to prolong my life? Just think ... All my meanness from now on - whether accidental or deliberate - will rest squarely upon her shoulders. And upon her conscience.
I like that.
When did the tables turn? When did I become the child and my children, the parents? One day I was guarding them from danger. The next, they were shielding me. Was the change so gradual I failed to notice, or did it occur suddenly when I wasn't looking?
It was gradual. I know it was gradual.
Unwise choices in my own life robbed Tony of a carefree childhood. He grew up fast. His strength helped me survive a lot of storms - both natural and man-made. I couldn't have made it without Tony, but I will always regret that his growing-up years held too little security and too much uncertainty. My fault. All my fault.
Patti, at sixteen, held my hand tight as we escaped a sure and certain danger in San Antonio and drove toward whatever might be waiting in Nashville. It was a scary experience. I couldn't have made it without her.
Carmen, at twenty-three, stood firmly by my side, facing the ruins of my childhood homeplace, and the two of us rolled up our sleeves and worked shoulder-to-shoulder to turn the worst kind of filth and neglect back into a liveable house. I couldn't have done it without her.
Honey Gail, at twenty-six, welcomed me into her home and never once made me feel unwanted during the eight months I lived under her roof, waiting for my own little house to be built. A few years later she helped me survive the diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis and the first terrible onslaught of the disease. It was several months before doctors matched me up with the right drug. I couldn't have survived without Honey Gail.
Ten years ago Karen began to look after me. It's impossible to list all the things she's done and is still doing. The debt I owe this child is so large that no matter how hard I try, it will never ever be repaid. And, now, on top of everything else, she has saved my life a second time ...
What did I ever do to deserve five such wonderful children?
I'm a woman well-blessed.
email: MelindaGerner@yahoo.com
