Let the love flow
It is amazing at what random things will bring back memories and make me cry.
Tonight, we were escaping ice dancing on the olympics *ptooey* and wandered over to American Chopper to watch them build a bike for a fan. This guy had to sell his chopper to pay for his mom's cancer treatments.
Big tears began running down my cheeks. Army of Dad chuckled at me. He thinks it is funny when I get weepy over touching stories. But, that isn't why I was crying. Yeah, it is really sweet and dear of this man to give up one of his most prized possessions to care for his momma.
I was crying because it brought back memories of childhood. When I had cancer, my folks had no medical insurance on me at the time. My dad owned a small convenience store and didn't carry insurance on a healthy 6-year-old girl. What was the worst that could happen? She's break an arm or get strep throat. Not too expensive. He didn't count on me developing a rare fast-acting cancer. Dad sold his motorboat, his motorcycle and I think one of our cars. He did all that to pay for my treatment. My parents did without so my brother and I could have good lives.
It is funny, because just the other day I was expressing my regret for not being firmer with Pickle when he was small. He was just so sick and fragile for the first three years of his life. But, I should have known better. I remembered something I heard my mom telling another mom at the hospital once. I had just gotten in trouble for doing something and I was crying. The mom asked her how she could be so harsh when I was dying. I vividly recall hearing her say, "As long as she is living in this world, no one is going to cut her slack for being sick. So she needs to know how to live like the rest of us and that means behaving." She did me the biggest favor she could have.
I just hope I'm half the parents they are and that I've learned from their mistakes and impoved on them. I truly hope my parents know how much I love and apprecite them. I hope my children know how blessed they are to have them for grandparents.
Tonight, we were escaping ice dancing on the olympics *ptooey* and wandered over to American Chopper to watch them build a bike for a fan. This guy had to sell his chopper to pay for his mom's cancer treatments.
Big tears began running down my cheeks. Army of Dad chuckled at me. He thinks it is funny when I get weepy over touching stories. But, that isn't why I was crying. Yeah, it is really sweet and dear of this man to give up one of his most prized possessions to care for his momma.
I was crying because it brought back memories of childhood. When I had cancer, my folks had no medical insurance on me at the time. My dad owned a small convenience store and didn't carry insurance on a healthy 6-year-old girl. What was the worst that could happen? She's break an arm or get strep throat. Not too expensive. He didn't count on me developing a rare fast-acting cancer. Dad sold his motorboat, his motorcycle and I think one of our cars. He did all that to pay for my treatment. My parents did without so my brother and I could have good lives.
It is funny, because just the other day I was expressing my regret for not being firmer with Pickle when he was small. He was just so sick and fragile for the first three years of his life. But, I should have known better. I remembered something I heard my mom telling another mom at the hospital once. I had just gotten in trouble for doing something and I was crying. The mom asked her how she could be so harsh when I was dying. I vividly recall hearing her say, "As long as she is living in this world, no one is going to cut her slack for being sick. So she needs to know how to live like the rest of us and that means behaving." She did me the biggest favor she could have.
I just hope I'm half the parents they are and that I've learned from their mistakes and impoved on them. I truly hope my parents know how much I love and apprecite them. I hope my children know how blessed they are to have them for grandparents.
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