Tag: community

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A Rock and a Hard Place

Hannah

Sweet Hailie Marie. This girl has shown me more about perseverance than most adults I know. This world is going to feel more empty without her.

Hailie’s father, Mark, and I first became friends in middle school. Thankfully technology has allowed us to maintain our friendship through many moves and life changes. There is a quote from Harry Potter, however, that I feel explains the foundation of our friendship even better.

“There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a 12-foot mountain troll is one of them.” -JK Rowling

Our 12-foot mountain troll came in the summer of 2011. Mark tragically lost his wife while giving birth to their son. I tried to be a supportive friend without really having any idea how to walk with someone through that. Several weeks later, I unexpectedly lost my baby girl, and entered a whole new world of understanding the hurting. Going through those great losses helped give my friend Mark and I an understanding of each other, and forged a friendship of encouraging each other through a pain we both now knew very well.

I’ll never forget the phone call which seemed only a short time later. Mark’s daughter Hailie had brain cancer. It was an extremely hard thing for me understand, but I watched the family take this new challenge with strength and calm.

This is when I became privileged to know a little girl with fight and determination that is awe-inspiring. Three times over the next few years she fought this beast. She bravely faced the treatments that stole much of her childhood, and she pressed on. She’s fierce, and she’s gentle, and that girl always has a smile. It’s been tough watching her family walk through this suffering, but seeing how they handle it with such calm perseverance and deep trust has been inspiring to me.

Now we know that the time to fight has come to an end. That beautiful, courageous girl is not going to be with us much longer. It’s excruciating. It’s confusing. I know I have argued with God many time over allowing so much heartache in this family’s life. Answers to questions we’ll never know, but I do know that Hailie, as well as her family have given us all a lesson in perseverance, the importance of family, and the hope that can never be squelched by the darkness.

Will you keep them in your thoughts and prayers with me? These days ahead promise to be heart-crushing, and sometimes I lose the words to pray within the searing of watching my friend walk this path of suffering.

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!

daily graces

Being Present

Hannah

I am hurting in too many places to name; exhausted beyond staying awake for a few hours, and sapped of all my energy. What a gift to be so. I spent it all this weekend, and it was worth it.

I play a constant juggling game of shifting what things I can do, and how long I will need to recover. Any activity at all takes a pretty great amount of effort. This past weekend I did less calculating and more doing. Missing the days of doing projects around my house, I worked hard to make my front porch a welcome landing pad. Tending to plants, arranging welcomes, and repainting a forlorn mailbox left me tired, hurting, and so fulfilled. It was an accomplishment for myself, and it was a gesture of love I could provide my people.

At the end of the day, covered in soil and spray paint, I pushed myself even further to clean up and go out with my loves for dinner. I didn’t think I could do it, but the delicious food and sweet company spurred me through a wonderful evening. The following night, I pushed hard again to spend time with kind friends who invited us over. It would have been easier to retreat to the cool quiet of my bedroom refuge, but I fought to stay up and enjoy the company of loving friends. It was a beautiful evening together.

By Sunday my body was done being pushed, and I had to give in to the haven of my bed for some extra sleep, fluids, and help with my breathing. My bones and muscles complained at all I had done, but my heart was light. I’m so thankful for the opportunities to fight for more, and the strength Jesus has given me to keep taking them. Remind me when I need a push! These times are surely a gift I don’t ever want to take for granted.

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!

family

For the Love of Palliative Care

Hannah

For the better part of a year or more my weeks have had to revolve around appointments. With 14 separate specialists each handling a different aspect of my health, you can imagine how the calendar filled up.  Most of these doctors have done me well, and helped me cope with the different challenges of  having a degenerative neuromuscular disease, but the past several months have left me exhausted each time I’ve had to leave my home, and resenting the several times a week that I had to spend my daily energy on seeing a doctor.  Helpful, yes, but the truth is there is no cure, and they’re all just doing their best to help me be more comfortable and handle the unpleasant side effects of my condition.

My husband and I had a very honest conversation about all this, and agreed it was time to get hospice involved.  Instead of running all the time from doctor to doctor, I wanted to spend more time at home with my loves spending what energy I do have on them.  I needed all the doctors consolidated into one master plan. It was the /best/ decision. 

The palliative care people? They’re a different breed.  I remembered this from my days working on the ambulance, but it was reaffirmed to me the first time I met my new team.  They aren’t out to find me a cure; their goal is to keep me as comfortable as I can be with what I’ve got, and that is exactly what I needed.  I was met with such kindness.  They weren’t rushed and bothered like so many; they took the time to see and understand me. They acknowledged and affirmed everything I was going through and feeling, and they committed to only do what I needed most.

Our days have slowed down.  I have found myself with more energy because there is less running around.  I’m so deeply grateful to shift our goals and focus on loving each other even more. My doctor is so kind, and readily available when I need something.  When I landed in the hospital with septic pneumonia recently, my palliative care team was there, and they were the ones who stayed extra in my room and laid comforting hands on me while we spoke, asked me how I was feeling, and truly sympathized with the pain I was experiencing and wanted to help.  I am learning a whole new level of compassion from these people, and I can’t help but wonder if I show the same love when someone needs me.  I sure aim to, and I’m thankful to have such incredible examples showing me the way.

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!

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The Long Goodbye

Hannah

Today I am remembering my pastor’s wife, and sweet friend Kara, on the day she left this world for the Heaven she so joyfully believed in. She is missed, and the legacy she left behind is one of great encouragement and grace. I know I was honored to learn from her about life, family, and faith.

Today her documentary came out. I encourage you to watch it and learn what made this woman such an inspiring friend. I am still challenged by many of our conversations, and always striving to love big like she did.

Click here for a link to the trailer.

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!

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Twists

Hannah

Yesterday started out with a heartbreaking phone call, and ended with me back in the operating room having one of the procedures from Friday needing to be redone. For a Monday, it was a doozy. I kept finding myself wanting a break long enough to have a hard cry, but the day was just non-stop happening, and there was no time for that. For a hot minute I was angry. I was complaining, and I didn’t think it was fair. Maybe it wasn’t, but grace still showed up. It showed up in my mother-in-law being able to handle the details of the hard morning news for me so I could get to the doctor, and my angel of a neighbor not only driving me back and forth to the hospital, but also showing up to make sure my little people were doing ok, and receiving a homemade meal for them, cooked by someone I’ve never met. Even when I painfully eased into bed last night, my pillow didn’t need to catch a single tear, because while my husband is away on work this week every little body in the house has taken up residence in my bedroom to be close to me. It’s just the cutest thing. I don’t deserve such gifts, yet they flow so freely.

Today I’m a little shell-shocked. My heart is sad. My everything is hurting. My mind and body are exhausted. But there is an unusual amount of sun today, tiny sprouts pushing up in my windowsill, and my kindhearted nurse will come by to care for me and make me laugh as he always does. I hope that on every hard day I continue to be reminded to look for the gifts, and I hope that as my children grow they will learn to do the same, because it sure makes the worst of Mondays more bearable.

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!

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Surgery Blessings

Hannah

I had a pretty big and difficult surgery last week, and have been plodding through a rather arduous recovery in the days following. I’ve not hardly been in the public eye since then, other than trips between hospital and home, and a few brief marathon efforts to participate in family activities. I’ve made attempts to clean up into pretty sundresses and lip gloss in lieu of the pajamas and heaps of pillows that have filled my recent days, but clearly I’m still sticking out like a wounded chicken. Or something.

Everywhere we have been, people have offered whatever they could to make things easier for me. They have cleared elevators for me; I believe I was crunched over in my wheelchair, hugging a pillow for dear life with tears streaming down my face when I heard a lady say, “you two go ahead, we’ve all been there.” People have called their children to move out of the way, given up seats, gifted anonymous flowers, held doors, and waited painstaking moments for me to take whatever time I needed.

This morning we waited at the end of the block near our house for our oldest daughter to march by in the holiday parade. Everyone was melting. The heat combined with the sickening humidity was almost enough to suck all the fun out of it. There I was in a crowd of sweltering people, and this tiny elderly woman came shuffling up to me and thrust a frosty red cup of ice water into my hand that she had walked back home to get just for me. I was almost speechless. It was such a selfless act, and I truly felt undeserving, especially considering all the miserably hot people around me. I thanked her profusely, and we all took turns sipping the cold goodness in the beating sun.

So many random people saw my hurting and my weakness this week, and they were quick and generous to act. It got me thinking though… what about the people whose hurting isn’t so visible? What about the ones who are more broken on the inside than out, and could also use a gentle smile or a beautiful flower, or just to know that they are seen and cared for? I guarantee they are all around us, and they may be trying to hide it just like me, but we shouldn’t have to look far to see another soul thirsty for a refreshing dose of encouragement, or an extra helping hand. I want to remember to look for ways to be kind, whether I can see that a person needs it or not. Chances are, they do.

More about my surgery misadventures later; for now let’s finish off this good long weekend with a renewed passion to be the hope this hurting world so desperately needs. I’d love to hear ways you are finding to spread kindness around you!

Please leave me a comment, it lets me know you’re listening!!!

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The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Hannah

This was such a rotten week you guys. I would recount it for you, but seriously I spent so much of it face down I’m not even sure which days were which.

Mostly what I want to share with you about this week though is today. Today was a day of scrolling through the camera reel and remembering, or maybe just really seeing for the first time the big and beautiful and maybe even amazing things that had everything to do with survival, whether I knew it at the time or not.

There was ugly. There were struggles and new limits and fears and just brokenness, but won’t you look with me? See the undeserved beautiful that cast a beautiful afterglow through the storms.

There were tender snuggles.

There were endless warm blankets and hard day socks. Never forget a pair of hard day socks.

There was HILARITY (slash panic) when my children somehow just haphazardly grabbed a mole and brought it into my bedroom to show me. A MOLE people!!

There was awe at the perfectly inspiring timing at which my sweet mama shared her sky with me from several states away.

There was giggling and excitement as the kids set up our tent in the backyard for an end of summer camp out, which I could see in plain view from the giant bay window at the foot of my bed.

There were breathtaking flowers along the walkway to the hospital.

I wasn’t stalling, there were like, a LOT of them!

There was cheering as my soon-to-be-school-goer beat me at his new letter sounds game.

There was the sweetest little pregnant mama houseguest who seems to think I’m the bestest snuggler of all….

And after… I lost count how many… days of not leaving home for anything other than the doctor, after a few dry runs and a lot of help from my wingman this morning, I busted on out with my two big boys for this…

And this…

AND antiques…

I don’t quite remember how I got back into the house, but I did in a sore, exhausted, pale-ish, and wonderfully happy and satisfied heap, where I intend to stay well into the snuggles of the evening. Who knows, maybe we will find another adventure or two to cram in before sundown. 😉

Look back through your own week; did you miss any hidden gifts that might have been the very things that carried you to the weekend?

I love it when you leave me comment-love; it lets me know you’re listening!