May, the Fourth

This year, on May 4^th, Hans was disappointed that he couldn’t physically visit a LEGO store. I let him know that we could visit the online store and look at some deals and maybe even make a purchase or two. The boy was super excited.

 

While he was waiting to finish his school work before he could visit one of his most favourite websites, I was waiting to hear back from my doctor about my test results.

 

My doctor called at 7:11 pm. It wasn’t entirely good news. Hans too was experiencing technical difficulties with the LEGO store online. He was getting frustrated and worried that he would miss out on a particular deal.

 

There were three concerns identified with my health, the worst was testing positive for the Rheumatoid Factor. What it means is that I most likely have Rheumatoid Arthritis and I need to consult with a specialist. This is an autoimmune disease and I am stuck with it forever. However, it can be managed by life style changes.

 

Hans was also optimistic that he would access a deal before the end of the day. And he did! Just a little after 10:30 pm, we were able to place an order for something that could possibly arrive sometime in September. It didn’t matter. The boy was happy.

 

However, Hans’ mom went to bed wallowing in self-pity. The only person she wanted to speak with was her friend KPF. He lives each day of his life with Cystic Fibrosis. How does he do that?

 

The next day, out of the blue, KPF sent me a text message about a new drug that is allowing him to manage his cough and shortness of breath better. He was excited about this development. I was astounded by the timing of his message. The one person I needed to connect with reached out to me! And he reached out to me with positive news!

 

KPF is perhaps the best example I know of a human being. I always feel that it is so unfair that he has CF. However KPF never makes a fuss over it nor draws any attention to himself because of it! He just lives his life.

 

That’s what I need to do. Live each day without making the disease the focus of my life. There are several fires to put out. What if Hans had been unable to connect to LEGO online on an exciting day? He would have been disappointed, but would have moved on. So we can miss the deal of the day or even the deal of a lifetime. Fortunately, there is another day and life goes on.