The Point

So last week I had to go to Vancouver, Washington to hold my sister's hand while she prepared for a surgery.  I say "had" because I knew she had nothing to worry about but it was pay back time for the uncountable times I called her after mentally giving myself cancer so that she could talk me down from the ceiling.  Plus she asked me to come - which she has never done - so I knew she was scared.  

And when someone asks, you go.

Two planes from Burbank and I arrived in Portland.  Let me just tell you now - I could live at the Portland airport.  Upscale, tasteful, clean, lots of boutique-y stores and shops and restaurants and even - unbelievably - a full-on spa - in case you want a Swedish massage between planes.  

Linda was there to meet me - at 11:30 p.m. and I was bone tired.  Back at her flat I got a chance to see her husband, Lee and youngest son, darling Colvin before pulling rank and taking his bed.  We had a big weekend ahead.  

I woke up way too early on Saturday, insuring that I would be running on empty all day.  This was not good because I was going to meet my great nephew and nieces (aged 3 months to 3.5 years) for the first time.    They are beautiful, precious, wonderful children and here is the lesson I took away with me:  I may not actually be a grandma, but I have passed into grandma-dom.  The realization of this completely freaked me out  made me feel warm and fuzzy.  Even so, I could have a week of deep sleep and still not have the energy to keep up with three toddlers.  I couldn't help but watch them run and jump and squeal and cry and play and eat and spill and undress and argue and climb and hide and fall and get boo boos and pull out every toy in the house and leave them all over every surface and drop their favorites in the toilet and have meltdowns and want to do everything they were told not to do and need changing and need walking and need bouncing and not nap - not once - not for 5 minutes - and wonder how I ever did it myself 23 years ago.  

In truth, I never did it well.   

But I watched everyone around me exhibit unending patience - something I never had and now, didn't need to have because everyone else had it in such abundance.  And so I remained calm.  All in all a very pleasant visit.  

And I got to hold the baby.  Yummy.

By Monday morning we were all thoroughly exhausted but we were up early to get to the hospital.  It wasn't until she was in surgery that it occurred to me that something could go wrong.  I was relieved when they wheeled her into post-op and then into her private room where she slept all day.  I sent Lee and Colvin to a movie since I didn't think Colvin should have to spend an entire day in a hospital room.  

I sat with Linda and read the book she had brought.  It only slight distracted me from the circumstances at hand though, as I could not reconcile that here was the girl who was wildly popular, the same girl who every single one of my few boyfriends ultimately fell in love with, the rebel, the fairy, the bohemian - and she was lying in a hospital bed, some gray in her hair, a grandmother - recovering from a surgery that was not elective.  This seemed like a rehearsal for something that will surely happen eventually, hopefully many years from now.  But I thought "what's it all about?"  

By the way,  Linda is fine.  This wasn't the kind of thing that has any kind of impact on her health.  Basically it was a hernia that happened to be fairly close to her heart.  It is no longer an issue at all.  But the reality is that life goes so fast, too fast, and I know I keep harping on the whole aging thing, but it is strangely fascinating.  We so love life, cling to it, and we are here for a blink of an eye.  So what is the point?

I was reminded of "the point" at my bible study Tuesday night.  "...no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him -" (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Love Him.  That is the point.  After that, everything else finds its peaceful perspective.