Marriage and Loving Support

I re-learned the value of having an amazing marriage this week, by throwing myself over my handlebars. There’s nothing like a near-death experience for showing you who really loves and values you.

The hardest part was calling my husband Mike from the ER, because I didn’t want him to freak out too badly. As soon as I was stabilized and relatively conscious, I got the nurse to promise not to call him, until I could talk to him. I knew that if he didn’t hear my voice, he wouldn’t believe that I was O.K.

So between the X-ray of my ribs and the CT scan of my brain, I told him not to freak out, but just come to the ER and hold my severely bruised hand. Since then, over a week ago, we have been through so much together, and I now realize I simply could not have made it through without him.

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were released from the hospital with orders to not be alone for the next 3-5 days, because you might fall asleep and not wake up again? What if you could not get up out of bed without help? How many of you would have someone available and willing to put their life on hold while they took care of you?

I realized only yesterday, that without Mike I would have had to beg my mother to come up to Colorado and take care of me. She might be available only because she’s retired.

We have become a culture that values rugged individualism and independence, but makes few allowances for the accidents or unexpected occurrences in life. Luckily Mike had plenty of personal experience with motorcycle accidents and recovery time. He also knows too well what it is like when there is no one available to help in emergencies, so he was more than happy to do everything he could to be there for me.

Thanks also to my sister and other friends who have shown their care and concern in the past few days.