Friday, March 2, 2012

Why Am I Here?

I usually try to keep my commentary pretty light.  I like to make you think, but I don't want to give you a headache!

But, tonight as I watched a program called "A Gifted Man" I began to think about how many close calls I have had in my lifetime, and wonder why I am still here.

Do you ever wonder why you are here? There are so many things that can end our lives prematurely.  Anything from chickenpox to a serious fall.  Our bodies are actually pretty fragile, beautiful pieces of machinery.

My first real brush with death was at only 4 years of age when I was thrown out of an old Hudson automobile by a "suicide door."  Traveling down the highway at 55 miles per hour I hit the pavement and rolled down an embankment before my parents could turn the car around and come back.  Fortunately, I was wearing a little woolen hat which helped to protect my head, but I did have a concussion, 44 stitches to close the wound, a broken arm and a broken collarbone.  I was transported to Providence Hospital to recover.

A year later I had a routine tonsillectomy and had been home for ten days before suffering a severe hemorrhage in the middle of the night.  My Daddy was working for the fire department and we didn't have two cars.  My Mother had to call my Uncle to come and get us and take us to the Base dispensary 13 miles away.  When I got there the corpsman on duty was unable to stop the bleeding, and they transported me in a van (no ambulance available at that time) to Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., forty miles away.  No one could really explain why I didn't die that night..the blood loss was horrific.

In 1990 I was hit head on on the driver's side of my vehicle by a woman who decided to cross two lanes of traffic and turn South in the Northbound lane.  Once again, serious injuries, ICU, but a complete recovery. 

I became a Registered Nurse to give something back to all the people who had cared for me, doctors and nurses and aides.  I loved medicine.  I loved studying the human body and how it works.  I actually had a clear plastic "invisible man" who displayed each organ in the human body and you could take him apart and look at each one. Cool!  You know, I saw one of those things the other day in Barnes and Nobles...they still make them...I couldn't believe it!

Tonight as I watched the program on TV, one of the persons in the Taxi which was hit was killed, while the other two walked away unscathed.  I have seen this in real life in accidents which I have personally witnessed.  I do believe that all our days are numbered, but I still wonder why some of us are spared and others are not. 

I am convinced that in many cases we are here to complete a task.  It may not be something earth shaking like saving the world, discovering a vaccine or curing cancer.  It may be something as simple as passing on valuable information that might save someone else's life.  It may be to raise the child or grandchild who has an important role in bettering the world.  It may be to write an inspiring book, or just take care of someone in need. 

Each of us has a role here on earth.  It may feel sometimes that you have no purpose.  Never believe that lie.  Each and every one of us has some role to play in our time here on earth.  Our days are numbered.  We need to relish each and every moment we have.  We need to share each other's pain and joys. 

One of my blogs reached a young woman who had recently lost her Father.   She commented and told me what the blog had done for her.  I was brought to tears by the fact that I had somehow made someone feel just a bit better that day.  I write for that reason.  I want to share.  I still want to give something back.  I will never be a great novelist, or the person who cures cancer, but I feel that my gentle touch when I was a nurse, and my words shared on these pages, just might be why I am here.

How about you?

God Bless - Peace, Love and Joy

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