As I sat in the ICU Waiting room, I wondered how many tears had fallen in this place. How many lives had been shattered by the news the surgeons brought to you while you sat in this room. Chairs all out of order, tables moved, old newspapers, games, puzzles without pictures. Empty Kleenex boxes. That is how much time you have when you wait in a room like this, you can put a puzzle together that doesn't even have a picture to go off of. Today has been hard. We started the day off bringing mom some breakfast and checking on dad. They brought his helmet in and they were moving him to the chair to sit for a while. We hung out for a little bit with mom and talked to dad as he drifted in and out of sleep. The swelling in his face had gone down considerably from yesterday. Seth was very intrigued by all the monitors and wanted to know exactly what each number meant, each symbol, each line, and also wanted to know what all the wires and cords attached to him were for. After my mom answered as many questions as she could, Seth then talked to the nurse about the others. He is very much about the details, and needing to know exactly how everything works and why it is needed. They were very well behaved while we were there this morning. We continued our day - running errands, cutting great grandpas hair, playing miniature golf and then ended up back at the hospital. I kind of hold my breath when I walk past the waiting room - to see if the family is there or in dads room, that is a pretty good indication of how things are going. Tonight they were all in the waiting room. We sat, sometimes you don't need words to know that it just isn't good. As we sat, one of my moms friends showed up with a smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, rolls and tea and lemonade - the ICU Waiting room was transformed and we enjoyed a nice dinner, even invited others to enjoy the dinner who were in there, waiting for a word about their loved ones. It is interesting how suffering can bring you closer to others, strangers. One lady sat down to eat with us and told us about her husband who was flown in from another state and suffered a brain aneurysm. The stories people tell on this floor are just hard to hear, and my heart breaks a little bit for each of them. I am grateful for the generosity of people we don't even know, who reached out because of love in their heart to help us on this journey. Their timing was perfect tonight. I love this picture of my dad and my sister, I know that he will keep fighting because he loves us, and I know we will keep believing in him because we love him! He has always beaten the odds, and nothing has ever been easy for him, but its never stopped him before. I love my dad.
As I sat in the ICU Waiting room, I wondered how many tears had fallen in this place. How many lives had been shattered by the news the surgeons brought to you while you sat in this room. Chairs all out of order, tables moved, old newspapers, games, puzzles without pictures. Empty Kleenex boxes. That is how much time you have when you wait in a room like this, you can put a puzzle together that doesn't even have a picture to go off of. Today has been hard. We started the day off bringing mom some breakfast and checking on dad. They brought his helmet in and they were moving him to the chair to sit for a while. We hung out for a little bit with mom and talked to dad as he drifted in and out of sleep. The swelling in his face had gone down considerably from yesterday. Seth was very intrigued by all the monitors and wanted to know exactly what each number meant, each symbol, each line, and also wanted to know what all the wires and cords attached to him were for. After my mom answered as many questions as she could, Seth then talked to the nurse about the others. He is very much about the details, and needing to know exactly how everything works and why it is needed. They were very well behaved while we were there this morning. We continued our day - running errands, cutting great grandpas hair, playing miniature golf and then ended up back at the hospital. I kind of hold my breath when I walk past the waiting room - to see if the family is there or in dads room, that is a pretty good indication of how things are going. Tonight they were all in the waiting room. We sat, sometimes you don't need words to know that it just isn't good. As we sat, one of my moms friends showed up with a smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, rolls and tea and lemonade - the ICU Waiting room was transformed and we enjoyed a nice dinner, even invited others to enjoy the dinner who were in there, waiting for a word about their loved ones. It is interesting how suffering can bring you closer to others, strangers. One lady sat down to eat with us and told us about her husband who was flown in from another state and suffered a brain aneurysm. The stories people tell on this floor are just hard to hear, and my heart breaks a little bit for each of them. I am grateful for the generosity of people we don't even know, who reached out because of love in their heart to help us on this journey. Their timing was perfect tonight. I love this picture of my dad and my sister, I know that he will keep fighting because he loves us, and I know we will keep believing in him because we love him! He has always beaten the odds, and nothing has ever been easy for him, but its never stopped him before. I love my dad.
2 comments:
Hi Rachel:
How wonderful of that friend to bring dinner to the hospital for you all. That touched my heart! May I be such a friend when needed.
You bring up good points about the sorrow and joys found in the waiting rooms, especially at ICU.
God's blessings to you all!
I love you all...
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