Clocks ticked,
But time did not pass.
The sun rose
And the sun set,
But the shadows remained.
When once there was sound
Now there was silence.
What once was whole
Now is shattered.
We Are Marshall
I am eighteen minutes into an eighteen-hour stay with Jess.
I cannot see myself lasting the remaining seventeen hours and forty-two minutes.
For the first time in the last fifty days I have crossed the line into despair.
"Hey, is that you?" I hear. "I saw the name on the charts and I just had to come to your room."
The voice belongs to an old high school friend, Gina Mecca, who is a nurse in the hospital, but on a different floor.
Just like with any good friend, it didn't matter that I hadn't seen Gina in over twenty years, we start talking like we just saw each other yesterday.
We talk for a few minutes. She tells me she is just amazed by BettyJane and me and the action we have taken as parents inspires her.
Gina says good-bye and promises to stop in whenever she can.
I thank her and she departs.
She has added fuel to my empty tank.
Jess is still asleep and my mind focuses on the remainder of my shift.
Up to this point, I have never done this before, but I feel the urge to get out of the room.
I leave.
I find myself walking aimlessly throughout the hospital hallways, making wrong turn after wrong turn.
I am really lost now. I don't know where I am – probably near the basement. I am walking down a hallway, trying not to be noticed because I am probably somewhere I shouldn't be.
There is a woman approaching me and she says "John, is that you?"
I am currently just fighting off a crying episode and didn't expect to be seen.
I lift my head and say "Yes it is."
"It's Kelly Allen from the neighborhood. What are you doing here?"
I bring Kelly up to date on what has transpired.
For the next few minutes, Kelly lifts my spirits and puts more gas in my tank.
My outlook has changed.
Thanks to two people I have not seen in over twenty years, I am back on course.
Sometimes you have no idea of the impact you can make on one's life just by being nice.
Gina and Kelly turned me around with two random acts of kindness.
Kindness, I will remember forever.
When I was on fumes, they filled my tank.
It is time to rise from the ashes.
YOU ARE READING
6 Minutes Wrestling with Life
Não FicçãoThey call it "The Greatest Sport on Earth" for a reason. It just took me 26 years to figure out why. If you live long enough, life will throw you to your back. And when it does, you're much better off if you've wrestled. You learn later in life how...
