Iraq

Not all people in Iraq are bad. We must remember that.

WE LIVE IN A BUBBLE

For those who believe in god and those who don’t I believe the faith that you do have is often tested. Sometimes the tests are simple and other times they are quite complex. I imagine an eight year old trying to solve quadratic equations. Sure it can be done but it will be nearly impossible. My family has recently been faced with one of those insanely hard tests. Due to everything that seems to go on in the world I’m starting to view life as a rubrics cube. Very few people actually solve it and the rest of us keep trying and a few simply give up.

A month ago one of the greatest, kindest, gentlest persons imaginable was in a car wreck on Turkey Knob. Seems like if you’re going to wreck in Powell County, that’s where it always happens. It was a freak accident. My uncle was driving and all of the sudden drove straight into the rock hill side. He was air lifted to U.K. Hospital. We all know that it’s got to be something serious if you were lucky enough to bypass Clark County Regional. My uncle was evaluated and many hours later he was finally released. No broken bones, just some contusions. While waiting in the parking lot for the car to arrive to shuttle the lucky man back home he suddenly without notice went into a seizure.

After being rushed back into the hospital and observed for many more hours a tumor was found on the brain scan. Apparently a seizure is what caused the wreck in the first place, which later turns out to be a blessing. A week later the tumor was removed and declared non-cancerous. We were all relieved. After further study the family found themselves in the heart of their greatest challenge. The tumor turns out to be one of the most aggressive tumors that a person can have. It’s complicated and it’s medical so I’m not going into detail but the outlook is grim. Average lifespan with someone of this kind of tumor is less than two years. More along the lines of 13 months with treatment. I have a strong family and we are all there for my uncle and his wife of 33 years.

I did not write this to depress anyone or to teach you about faith. There is a moral to my story. Don’t take your time with your friends and family for granted. A perfectly healthy person on the outside can be quickly or slowly dying on the inside without a hint of existence. I never knew how much my uncle meant to me until this happened. I wish that at the family gatherings I spent more time getting to know him, I wish that I would have told him how much he matters to me more. Luckily I still have time to do these things, it’s just a shame that it takes a terrible tragedy for me to wake up to reality.

We all wake up and go to bed in a bubble of our own image of life. We don’t realize how much people mean to us and what can happy any minute. Right now as I write this someone is being diagnosed with AIDs, a child is being abused, a best friend dies in a car crash, and a spouse finds out that their life is a time bomb ticking away.

Please, go tell everyone that you know that you love them. Let them know how much you care for them. Don’t let a tragic event force you to show them how much they matter. Don’t wait until it’s to late.