A Spoonful Of Sugar Makes The Medicine Go Down, And A Hand-Written Note Can Make Your Day When You&#

My husband shook off the droplets of rainwater from his raincoat as he darted inside our home this afternoon. It had drizzled steadily all day. Miserable weather. Bill handed me two things from the mail~ one I hadn't been expecting the other I had.

A few weeks ago, I had a gran-mal seizure. Embarrassment personified. I was in the floral department of our local grocery store...looking for flowers for my mom for Mothers Day. The last thing I remember was entering the store with my service dog Frax. I scooted into the floral department, stopping in a quiet part...since I suddenly felt funny. My sight started coming and going, my body shook from the inside...out. I knew a seizure was nearing...as did Frax, who huddled against my side, nosing me. I slid the medication I take for seizures (to try to stop them), under my tongue, and tried to slow my breaths, I put my head on the steering column of the cart....then...blackness! A curtain came down!

I knew nothing till I awakened at a local hospital in the ER. Wet. How embarrassing! I took a header into the floral display! Good gravy! Apparently plopped in the middle of all the arrangements, and of course they spilled all their water! Poor Frax hates water, but my husband (who ran in the store when he saw the ambulance and fire department arriving!), said that Frax was wet up to his tummy, where he had tried to awaken me and comfort me after the seizure! Frax is quite tall, so I'm pretty sure he had nestled next to me trying to get me awake. Brave boy! That says a lot for how much he loves me because he really despises water!

It's difficult to get Frax outside when its raining. I had a nice soft towel waiting after his 'necessary' stops outside today. He nearly moaned with pleasure as I dried each of his big toes! (His feet are big as tea plates when he spreads them out! ) As a pup, he was gangly and got his legs all tangled up. When he was finished he had cleanly broken his right foreleg! He was casted and ' rehabbed' and that's where his hate of water comes in. He had aqua therapy, which was great. He has no leftover problems, due to the aqua therapy. But he hates water.

Hates it.

People look at me funny when I say he can't stand getting wet. He's a retriever. It's in their DNA, contract or something, isn't it that they LOVE water? Frax marches to a different drummer. Not he. He will not get in water unless asked or a grave emergency, as described above. It's nice to know he loves me enough to risk getting wet. That's love. Tee hee. I think I'll give him another dog biscuit before bed.

Why not?

Oh, so anyway, got a wonderful thing in the mail. You'll never guess what. A card.

It's not my birthday, either.

It was a handwritten note from a dear friend, just hoping I was feeling better. Just that. Simple. Made my day. Probably my entire week. Isn't it wonderful when someone reaches out to you when times are tough...and they didn't have to do it at all, yet they did? Kinda makes all that bad stuff on the TV fade out doesn't it? I immediately thanked her on the email, but, ya know...I think I'll sit down and write her a thank you as well.

Consider the personal note. It still means so much. I think perhaps more.

It means a person took time out of their busy day to just sit down and write to you. To let you know that they were thinking about you, knew you had a hard few days, and that they understood. How entirely awesome is that? It is, you know.

These are things I take note of now that my days are slow. No more running from here to there for me. Slow. That's the cadence of our days now. I never would have imagined this when I was a college student. Or a young wife. Or a nurse in charge of others lives. What a change. Just think for a moment. What would you do?

What would you do? If you woke up and your body decided that you would take a different path. No votes from you. None. You get no say. What would you do? Do you know how your family would react? How about your co-workers? Friends? Neighbors?

I can't answer the first, because everyone is different, and handles personal crises differently. I can answer the second one for you....how others will react. The answer is this: differently than you ever dreamed. Seriously. Some will step forward and go through the fire with you. And some...well, they are less than you thought. And mean less. Some less than nothing. And some, well the whole world!

If that sounds rather scary, it is. But it doesn't take a health crisis or a financial one, or any one of a million crisis that we can think of to discover who really 'has your back'. My husband, he has more than I ever would have dreamed of. I'm blessed. Some friends, new and old, have stood with me Some have stood with me 'virtually.' How wild is that? That a dear friend could mean so much, yet be states and miles away? Very cool. And this from someone who 'computering' did not come easily to.

Just goes to show, you never ever know. I guess the take away from this is that I've learned that the soul of my best friend was encompassed with fur. And who woulda thunk it? People will and can let you down. Say un-thoughtful things. Hurt you physically on purpose and not. Animals aren't that way. What you see. Well, it's what you get. Just like other relationships, each one is different. But my relationships with my service dogs have been some of the best of my life, and the most rewarding. I'll not apologize for it neither.

Ask yourself a question. Who in my life doesn't like animals? Distance yourself from them. They aren't put together right. It doesn't mean they can't be fixed, but now, they aren't good to be around. Dogs... they know things. That's why I always say to folks : DOGS KNOW. Watch your dog more closely. Who does he like? Who does he skitter away from?