Mortality

Last week was a bit rough.

The other day my mom decided to stop breathing. As it turns out, she is not a superhero and thus the whole breathing thing is imperative to her ability to sustain life. Luckily, my father found her and did CPR. Luckily, medical technology has advanced so much that a ventilator was able to help her breathe. Luckily, the incident seems to be over and she is now resting comfortably at home.

I have been exposed to a lot of death in my time. I have had family members die. I have had friends pass away. I once had a client die in my arms. In general, I am not too freaked out by death. I realize it is a part of the cycle of life. With that said, I do not find the idea of death romantic and thus do my best to avoid thinking about it in too much detail. I arrogantly assume that I will not die anytime soon. Yet, my own emergent hospitalization a few years ago and the early deaths of my brother-in-law and mother-in-law remind me that my time in this world is finite and not guaranteed. Further, it may end at any moment. Thus, over the past 6 months, I began a series of efforts, which do not to be explained in this forum, to ensure that I am living the life I want to live while I have it. This is a bit of an ongoing effort for me - a journey.

With all of that said, it never occurred to me that my parents are mortal too. I realize that sounds ridiculous, but I just do not think about their absence from my life. I have several grandparents alive. I have many great uncles and aunts living. In my mind, my parents, for whatever reason, should outlive these people. The possibility of another option simply does not make sense to me nor do I want it to.

For those of you supported our family in this last week via visits, phone calls, email, and FB posts: thank you. For those of you who did not make contact with our family, but held us in your thoughts: thank you. We're all doing just fine.

For the record, I am done with hospitals for 2010. Take note.