Skip to main content

Time to Adjust

I am not a super emotional person as anyone can tell. I do have my outbursts of anger as do many people, although for the most part I would think of myself as relatively easy going. This last week, it has been a roller coaster of emotions. I don't really know what's change. I think it all begin with Nari. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the poor girl, but I know she is missing something great.


Before we all jump to conclusions on what she's missing...first let me back track. It's been six years since my mom passed away due to cancer. "Time heals all wounds..." I know the cliche quite well. Time does not heal all wounds in the sense that I'll eventually not feel the sadness. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her.

I wasn't always the perfect son and if I could go back in time, I'd definitely kick myself in the pants so much! But my mother did teach me some valuable lessons.

Getting back on topic regarding Nari and how this entire emotional week began...I was holding Nari and she was falling asleep. I suddenly became so sad that my mother wasn't there to hold her. I remember my mom holding my sisters's kids. When Kim had her kids, Mom would take several weeks and go help her around the house and with the kids. I have wonderful pictures of mom with Sara's first child. I know, I know..."insert Heavenly cliche"...putting that aside, Nari won't get to know the wonderful woman as a grandmother. The thoughts of, "it's not fair," and "maybe they knew each other before this life," all crossed my head. It was sadness knowing that Nari Nancy will never feel, the woman she's named after, her warm embrace.

Suzie has gotten me into watching Grey's Anatomy. Overall, it's not a bad show. Medically inaccurate at times...according to Suzie, but overall a decent drama. Granted, everything that could go wrong with this group of doctors, does in the end.

In the most recent episode, one of the doctors, Maggie, lost of her mother to breast cancer. She returns to work and people around her are questioning her ability to perform a surgery. She is removing a tumor from an unborn baby still inside the mother. Everything is going fine until the tumor is removed from the baby's heart. The baby begins to code and the other pediatric doctor is demanding to know what to do and yelling at Maggie to "DO SOMETHING." Maggie is just waiting, calmly, almost appearing to freeze. Then she says, in a perfect Grey's Anatomy metaphor:

"I hear you. My plan is to give her a minute. She just lost something huge, something that has been with her since day one. Her heart just needs to learn how to beat without that extra load. She just needs a little time to adjust."

I don't know why, but that particular line hit me so hard. When we lose something that has been with us since the beginning, it takes our hearts time to adjust to the loss. My mother's death did not hit me in the beginning. It was almost surreal. She passed away on August, and I returned to school within a week for the for the first day back to school with students. My heart didn't adjust in the beginning. Maybe now, it's finally beginning to adjust. So in essence, time does heal all wounds. Time allows the heart to beat on it's own. Time allows you to wake up each day with a renewed view of the world. Time allows you to push past your own trials and embrace the challenge of overcoming them. I just need time to adjust as do we all.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Right Swipe, Right Time.

As summer winds down, I find myself reflecting a bit. The last few years have been chaotic—leaving administration, finishing up at my old school, moving to a new one, frantically setting up a classroom, learning curriculum, just trying to get my footing—and before I knew it, summer was gone. But this year felt different. I officially survived 6th grade…again. Teachers get out about two weeks earlier than administrators, so when I checked out in early June—bam—it actually felt like summer this time. On top of that, Amanda and I moved in together back in February. Looking back at our timeline, it’s easy to see how some might say things moved fast. Maybe they did. But here’s the thing—I’ve learned to speak my truth a little louder. And the truth is simple: I don’t care what anyone thinks about the speed of it. We’re in our 40s. We know what we want. I’m happy. Freaking happy. I don’t think I’ve ever written out the saga of how I met Amanda. So here goes: It was not a dark and stormy night...

As the Dust Settles

Usually these posts come from some inspirational reel, a song that hits a nerve, or an epiphany that sneaks up on me. Honestly, I haven’t had any of that lately. Right now, I’m just sitting here waiting for the potatoes to finish baking so I can make twice-baked potatoes. Call it the “calm” before the storm. In about five minutes I’ll be juggling soggy potato shells that feel like hot diapers, trying to scoop them out without destroying them, mixing butter and cream before piping it all back in. Then it’s the meat on the smoker—which should be simple if I can make it across the backyard minefield left by Ellie and Jasper. Of course, the backyard has zero shade this time of day, so I’ll be standing there in the blazing sun, breaking out in hives… still. Ah, the hives. They showed up right after Nari was born. Everything I read said they’d go away in a few years. Well, it’s been nine. I’ve tried everything. Nothing works. Another story for another time. Heartbreak though—that’s its own b...

Single Parenting: Surviving Sadness to Finding Silver Linings

  It’s funny how things work themselves out in life. It’s been about two years now since I’ve been truly living the single parent life. How I would love to talk to myself back then…I would have some words of wisdom. I believe that I struggled with a common obstacle many parents do at that point in the journey. Two years ago, I was stuck . I was stuck in a never-ending cycle of sadness when my three kids, Kayden, Rose, and Nari, were with their mom. Truly, I believed that is what you’re supposed to feel. Sadness that your kids are not with you. Over the past two years, a new clarity has come and I’d like to share it with all of my faithful and loyal readers…all 8 of you (that may be erroring on the high side). Dearest Gentle Reader… no that’s not right. Four score and seven years ago…hum. It was a dark and stormy night…nope. Okay, I’ll just be original. I left off with the statement that 2 years ago, I was stuck. Like stuck stuck. In the mud stuck. Frozen in ice, feet in concrete, d...