Things Often Come in Three's

When I was a little girl I was raised on the old wives tale, "Bad things come in three's". My grandmother believed this to be a fact, nine times out ten, it usually came true.  One person we knew would die and within a week or 10 days two more people we knew would die. It was probably a coincidence, however this little girl kept count, just in case.  Regardless of the reasoning,  it made a lasting impression on me. I believed it with all my heart.

People die every day. However when death becomes personal we take more notice. The old saying takes on new meaning.

In our family we have been blessed beyond measure nevertheless,  like other families we have our share of troubles and heartaches. That is part of being alive. If we didn't have any battles to fight, how strong would our faith be?  If we didn't have battles to fight, would life hold the same value?  If we didn't have any battles to fight, how would we ever know what we are made of?  Could we have compassion without the trial?  As strange as it may sound, I think most of us need some of the battles we fight.  Maybe not all battles, but some to help form compassion for other people, going through the struggle we have already completed or are still fighting.

 There are some battles that never end or give a person a fighting chance. Many people suffer from the day they are born until they die, for no apparent reason except fate. Life is not fair.  Famine, disease, dictators, unworkable land, unreasonable governments and religions that are base and cruel, wars that never end, weather more forceful and terrible than the last storm to pass through leaving in its wake a lifetime in rubble. These things plague nations around the world.  The list goes on, the atrocities added daily and yet most survive. They live. They beat the odds and live to fight another day. What lessons did they learn about life? Probably, more than we will ever know.

Our family has been hit by mental and physical stress these past two months. Tami has to have surgery on her spine. This is a new avenue we have never traveled down before. For us as a family it is very scary. The fear of the unknown pokes his head up, off and on each day. I will be glad when it is over, and Tami is safe and well. I would gladly trade places with her, if I could. She is too young to have to go through this much pain.

Tommy has to have work done on his heart. When I listen to his heart beating through a stethoscope I cringe. The beat is faint and all over the place. It is nothing like the strong young man's heart of 40 years ago. I miss that heart. I love the old heart. I am also afraid of it.

Today I was told I need to have a "suspicious looking cyst or something" removed from my left breast. I have had this done before. The first time I was frantic and scared to death. True to form nothing went exactly like it was supposed to go. The surgery was almost 3 hours. The lab report took forever to get back to the doctor. I was so worried. When my doctor finally received the report  he called me at home, around  7 p.m. on a Tuesday night. I was shocked he called me and so relieved. He had been in surgery all day and I could tell by his voice he was exhausted. He didn't hurry the conversation. The words he said to me were the exact words I needed to hear.  He told me the cysts were benign, however the report said I had the cancer gene BRCA1 and 2 and would need to be monitored closely. I think my voice became a little quivery after that. It was then my doctor said the perfect words to me. Words I have heard in my head many times and words I heard today when I received another scare report. 

My doctor said, "Vicky you have to go on and live your life. You can not worry about what might happen. This is out of your control." He went on to say, " Your situation is kind of like giving a teenager a car...most of them make it home every night....and you will too. Live your life and do not worry about something that may never happen." It was the best advice I have ever received. I heard those words again today and I still believe them.