Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"They're Grown Now..."

Her husband lay in the bed, tired. She stood beside him and held his hand in the dimly lit ICU room.

I asked her if she was ok, and she said, "It's hard." Her eyes focused on the window. I nodded sympathetically.

The older gentleman with his eyes closed in the bed had been diagnosed with terminal cancer a few weeks earlier. In the hospital for a related procedure, I was the nurse assigned to him for the evening. His wife and I had just finished getting him settled.

She turned to me. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy." Well into my second trimester, my hospital scrubs could not disguise my bulging belly.

"We have three sons," she said. "Of course, they're grown now..." Her voice trailed off.

Softly, I said the words I read in her face. "It goes by quickly."
_______________

I walked out of that room holding my stomach. As an experienced ICU nurse, I have seen a good share of tragedy, grief, and death. In my memory, much of it is reduced to a blur of CPR and tears. But this one moment never left me.

At the time, my husband's uncle had been diagnosed with cancer and my grandfather was undergoing aggressive experimental treatment for the same. The uncle has since passed, shortly after his 49th birthday. My grandfather is in remission.

As an expecting parent and now as a new parent, I frequently hear, "Enjoy them while they're little!" "All you have to do is blink and they'll be grown." "It goes by so fast!"  God's word also reminds me that I'm not promised tomorrow.

But standing in that hospital room, hearing a woman talk about her grown sons as she held her dying husband's hand, brought it home for me.

Snuggling my little boy in his first week of life


Today is precious.



This post is linked to Words of Wisdom Wednesday at Trugars and Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things..
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17 comments:

  1. This made me cry. I love you. Thank you.

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  2. Oh Alicia - beautiful post, and you are so right! It's goes SO FAST!

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  3. This was beautiful. Thank you.

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  4. It is precious indeed. Thank you for the wonderful reminder.

    I am doing my very best to enjoy every minute.

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  5. Such a great post. I've heard that it goes fast and in 3 years I've already seen some of it, but it's still hard to take it all in sometimes, this was a good reminder.

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  6. This is such a great post, it's so well written and it just really touching
    "It goes by fast"...

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  7. This brought tears to my eyes. So, so true.

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  8. It really does go by too fast, and we can't take a minute for granted....not only true of our kids, but everyone around us.

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  9. Great post. Time does pass quickly. Great way to start my day! Thank you!

    nicóle
    writespell.com

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  10. You're very fortunate to have someone tell you such an important thing - and very wise to recognize that it was important.

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  11. This was such a good reminder and such a sweet/sad post. I am the mother to an 11 year old now and it seems like it was only yesterday I found out we were going to be parents for the first time.

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  12. Thank you for posting this! It's encouraging to me today when I feel like I'm stuck in the first years phase that these moments will pass in the blink of any eye...I need to live in this moment and cherish it!! Thank you!

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  13. Came here via Gypsy Mama. This is oh, so true! The days may drag sometimes, but the weeks and months fly...

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  14. it is a true gift to have this time and to have the knowledge to cherish it.

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  15. My boys are 17, 14 and 13 and it is so true..cherish every moment. At the same time there are moments to cherish at every age. Motherhood is a beautiful thing.

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  16. Oh man, yes. Precious indeed. Even when the days feel slow, the years sure seem to pass by awful fast. Thank you for this poignant reminder.

    ~Lisa-Jo

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  17. Oh my goodness, you made me cry! :) Thank you so much for sharing such a sweet post and reminding me of the value of my today.

    Renee (visiting from Gypsymama)

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