Life is full of ironies. I felt the acute impact of this last week. Rewind almost 5 years ago our baby boy, Gabriel Isaac, was born still after my labor was induced. One of my 'early' OB's was Dr. O- . He was very kind and took the time to show us how to use the fetal heart monitor that we bought just so we could listen to our baby's heart beating whenever we wanted. I remember conversations we had with him during my check-ups. . . . and I well remember the last ultrasound in his office that sent us straight to the perinatologists' office. Dr. O- called me at home the following weekend to see how I was doing.
Now fast foward to last week, I walked into one of the rehab gyms with my patient and there I saw Dr. O-. He was not there to see a patient. He was there with his daughter who has suffered a traumatic brain injury that has completely altered her life in all ways, and the life of her family (and I might say, even friends), in just a few terrible seconds.
Life is precarious. It can be too heavy to keep a balance if the losses are valued more greatly than the gifts each new day brings.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. ~Robert Frost
7 comments:
Sarah, I am with you 100% on this. I'm really sorry to know you went through a stillbirth. Having had a miscarriage, I know that I can't even imagine the sadness of losing one after carrying so close to term. My heart goes out also to the OB and the seismic shift in his life that he must be experiencing. Again, I had a shadow of that with our son's brain surgery and am unendingly grateful for his good outcome. But you are so right that it is a mistake to give the sorrows more weight than the joys. You grieve, but you don't let grief continue to be all-consuming.
csl - thanks for your words. I don't know that one persons loss can be considered greater than another persons; we all suffer. Trying to guage sufferings can become strange finally. Yes, seeing my OB in this situation affected me a bit. I appreciate you and your blog.
What a beautifully written post. It's so true in what you said about balancing the losses. I know for sure that we have all carried some measure of loss that can't be compared to another's loss.
wendy - thanks. I liked your thoughts on the candlelight vigil that you are participating in for the 3 people that have touched your life in various ways.
Your post is so meaningful. Life is so precious and you have placed words on your blog that mean so much. All the losses we feel in life are hard, but it also helps to see the happiness that enlightens our hearts.
What an amazing post. You are so right about treasuring the good in our lives...every drop of it!
Thank you for stopping by 'my place' I look forward to following along on your journey to your daughter.
I am so sorry you went through the loss of your sweet Gabriel.
Beth - thanks. It's been great to keep up with you through your blog. You have the cutest daughter!
c.j. - I've appreciated many of your thoughts on your blog. This adoption process is incredible - in spite of the waiting and maybe even more so because of the paths that lead us here.
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