When the worst in life brings out the best in people

Its kind of funny how some of the worst things in life turn out to show you the best in people.  This upcoming PAO on the 21st will not be the worst, nor the hardest thing I have ever gone through in life, but its one of those really hard things that makes you wonder, why me?  Why is it that I am going through all these surgeries and all this pain?  But its also these moments that shows you the best from the people in your life.  I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people on earth when it comes to family.  I have known my entire life that my family will always be there for me, no matter what.  Wouldn't matter how big of a mistake I made, or how much I hurt the people I loved the most, they would always be there for me.  I know that not many people in the world can say that, so I am beyond lucky to always have this support system.  Then you add in my husband and his family, plus friends, and compiled are some of the best and most amazing people on this planet.

The prep for this surgery alone has brought out the absolute best in all the above mentioned people and I have not even had surgery yet!  Since my house in Houghton, MI is an older home with steep stairs and the bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor, my mom and I knew as soon as we were told about needing a PAO that I would not be able to recuperate at my house.  So that meant moving in with my parents, for 3 months!  Now, for a normal family this would not be a big deal, but my family is far from normal.  Four years ago my parents took in three foster children who were left by their parents at the preschool my mother used to work at.  For the past four years my parents have cared for a loved these kids as if they were their own.  My sister and I too have welcomed them into our lives without missing a beat as if they were always our siblings.  To us, anyone in need was welcome, and these kids were in desperate need.  So obviously with 3 kids, my parents have a full house, but that did not matter.  Without missing a beat my mother started planning for my husband and I's stay at their home for a few months.  Moving around furniture, making 8 hour trips up to Houghton and back home with our clothes and dog, you name it, my parents did it.  Another saving grace for my husband and I is that my in-laws own some hardware stores in the area, thus my husband is able to work while I recover.

If these things were not enough to make you thankful for wonderful family, the next piece of amazing news will make you thankful for friends!  After I called my friend Chelsea, who lives far away, and had a good cry with her on the phone about my surgery situation, she also got to work seeing if some of her family's friends had a vacant place for us to stay in during the week of my surgery in NYC.  Amazingly enough, her father has a friend who has an apartment in NYC that she offered to me, my mother and my husband while we are in NYC for my surgery, FOR FREE!!!  I was literally in shock when Chelsea told me about this amazingly gracious person.  I mean, who offers their home to complete strangers for an entire week?!  I pretty much just started crying.

Since that time I have been in contact with the owner of the apartment and she is the nicest lady, even sending me pictures of the apartment and the view!  Its times like these that I realize, I am the luckiest person on earth.  Yeah, these surgeries suck and yes, I am not happy about it, but if there was ever a lesson to be learned here its that I am surrounded by one of the best support systems ever.  So this post is a shout out to all those in my life who have cared for me in ways that I can never repay.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sarah