Love In The Time Of Crisis

Most people I know lead crazy busy lives. We rush from carpool to work, to after school activities to after dinner activities and so on, in a blur. We know we love our parents, our spouses and our children and we do many things to show them we care, from dropping their forgotten lunch at school to arranging birthday celebrations.

When life takes a detour into serious illness, love turns you into a caretaker, health decision maker, advocate and nurse.
But it is at the “Grey’s Anatomy” moment, when you say goodbye to your loved one as he is wheeled off to the operating theater, that the love you have and dare I say it, you fear you might lose if all does not turn out well, comes into sharp relief.

Minutes before Jonny’s send off to surgery and our 18 year old  son, Benjy’s rendition of “Always look on the bright side of life” from Monty Python (yes the staff did look at us rather strangely as we sang along), Jonny in a sweet, slurry, drug induced kind of way and I in a stiff upper-lip counter balance,  discussed the precious love we have for each other and our hopes and fears that were dependent upon the surgical outcome.

Although the brain surgery Jonny was heading into is statistically very safe, you still sign the consent form that says you have understood the risks of surgery, that can lead to deafness, stroke or possibly death.  So it is at the moment, when you might possibly lose it all, and­ you hand over your loved one to the surgeons, that the depth and ferociousness of that love comes to the surface.­­­

And when you see them in recovery and they are hooked up to machines and swearing with pain, you hold back the tears of relief, that the opportunity to love that person more than ever, is back in your hands.

Gilly

P.S We have agreed to take less drastic measures in future, to show our affection for each other! If you have any original, non life threatening, suggestions let me know.....