In an instant anything can change...

Today at 7:45 I get a text from my mom. With bleary eyes (I really wanted so badly to sleep in after that trip) I see it is from my mom. I just assume my mom is ready for me to get my dog back (she pet sits Mackenzie when we travel) but instead she tells me Dad is getting prepped for surgery. My mind quickly begins to race and I remember speaking with my brother about my father doing a surgery to release the tightness in his tendons. I had no clue that it was today. I was worried b/c it was something that they didn't know for sure they were going to do it and so I didn't know any of the details. Would he be in the hospital a while? What does it entail? etc.

It is interesting b/c I wasn't the closest with my father growing up. I will simply say the man lived by his own set of rules and leave it at that. After college I lived in LA and was serving a mission for my church working with the local DEAF community. It was a really happy special time in my life. For the first year Dad and I didn't stay in contact but in July of that year he started writing me and I wrote back. It was very lovely! Than one day he mentions he is a little under the weather and going in for tests. I didn't hear anything until my mom told me that he suffered a massive stroke in October of that year. He went in for a minor procedure and he almost died. He no longer could speak really or move the right side of his body. After that I was never the same. The true fragility of life hit me on the head. It made me realize that grudges are never worth a dime in the scheme of life.

It has been almost 6 yrs since than. My father and I have slowly built a nice relationship. He is truly a wonderful Grandpa and I enjoy his company. He has grown much stronger, can walk with the use of a cane, speaks clearer, and is slowly gaining more independence. While he may not seem like the fast talking quick witted lawyer he once was, the man he is now is pretty awesome. In time I stopped worrying all the time that something could happen to him. The fear of mortality sort of got pushed in the back of my mind.

So back to the surgery story. He went into surgery today and so the whole morning I obsessed over my phone carefully watching the texts from my mother. She told me when he went in for surgery, came out, woke up, and best of all she sent me a text saying: "Dad is safe, out of danger, and feels like sh*t :)". I knew if my Mom's sense of humor was back everything was going to be all right!!! It gave me a renewed sense of humility. Once again mortality knocked on my door and made his presence known. I hugged my children tighter and will be grateful that I have all of my loved ones in my life another day! Life is short. I don't want to dwell on how it can all change in an instant. I just want to live my life appreciating those I love more and being grateful for each of them in my life. Every day is a gift from God in my opinion.

I apologize I didn't have time to up load and post pictures of the trip and share the fun stories of the critters in Albuquerque. Hopefully tomorrow!