Things could always be worse…

Maui Jim said it best in a note he left on my last entry: it doesn’t matter how old your kids are, your heart breaks when they’re sick. My little boy, who is now 12 years old just had a fever and a bad cough and I was tempted to go screaming into emerg but I resisted. A few Tylenol later and the little guy is back on his feet and things are back to normal. But Jim is still right, you feel so bad to see those puffy red cheeks and sit with him while putting a cold cloth on his forehead to help him out. I let Jon watch Cat In The Hat and Mamma Mia on the TV as often as he wanted, no matter how much it bugged his brother.This is just for a small cold/fever, so imagine how much of a wreck I would be if it was something worse?

I was speaking to my father earlier tonight, and I as given an example of how worse things could get. One of my cousins living in Arizona got some very bad news about her daughter, who is only two years younger than Jon. She was diagnosed with Leukemia and the family is just devastated. We have no idea how bad things are, or what kind of treatments she’s going to need, but for a ten years old to get something this bad is a real kick in the nats. My cousin is a strong person, and she’ll be tough but I can only imagine how she feels. I get upset at a fever, so I cringe at how I’d respond if one my boys was diagnosed with that. I’d probably grab a pillow and curl up into the fetal position on the floor and cry.

My Dad didn’t have all the details, but regardless my cousin and her family have a difficult road ahead of them. I’m confident they’re tough enough to rise up tot he challenge, but my Dad had the idea of sending a card/letter to show our support. I thought it was a great idea and am going to get the kids to draw something up to show that we are thinking of them in these difficult times and wish them all the best.

It’s also times like this when the atheist in me cannot help but question the religious about shit like this too. What part of god’s plan makes it necessary to give a small 10 year old child Leukemia? Seriously, shit like that really bothers me… especially when people try to justify it with excuses like god working in mysterious ways, or that he/she is just trying to test my cousin and her family’s faith. Total bullshit. If there was a god (doubtful) then he/she/it/them would deserve nothing more than a middle finger for this kind of cruel shit.

It’s stuff like this situation that cause me to pause and think about a lot of stuff, such as my own mortality, or that of my kids. Stuff like that scares the shit out of me, but it’s something I do think about from time to time. Not much, but enough.

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend, and I’ll be around.

Cheers,

Peter