what really counts

You go along in life with the usual ups and downs, then a teeter-totter day hits you and you know for sure that life is plenty mysterious and that your people are, in the end, all that really matters. 

Yesterday started out extremely happy: I found out my latest column is getting published in tomorrow's Dallas Morning News and the editor was very happy with it. Woot hoot! I celebrated by making a quick stop at the park to take a few pictures (including the ones on this page)on my way to the dentist. (Opposite of woot hoot.) Nature can be so soothing. I needed these pictures today.

What was supposed to be a quick dental appointment turned into a two-hour stint in the chair to include a delightful surprise filling for a tooth-chunk that had, unbeknownst to me, vamoosed from one of my few fully-intact teeth sometime since my last visit a month ago. Oh, great. And that crown I complained about several weeks ago, well, yeah that is still not finished. Don't ask. I have to go back on Monday morning for crown: round four. Fingers crossed.

Next, the teeter-totter swung back up. I got to work on a new editing project I landed this week, which is super-fun and interesting. It is a book. After several hours, I ran to Hobby Lobby for acrylic paint because my neighborhood craft buddy was coming over soon to paint rocks. At the store, things fell apart.

I got a call from my sister Karen. I'd been trying to reach her for two day to check on her, since she'd had an uncharacteristic headache-related health issue on Monday, requiring an ER visit. Soon as I heard her slurred speech, I knew things were not right and she needed to get back to the hospital pronto. Only she was also experiencing some confusion, making it difficult for her to make good decisions. We live many states apart, so it was an ordeal, requiring a small tribe from several states, to get her help. I will not go into all the details now, but she is finally getting an MRI this very minute. Please pray for her. She is a wonderful person, and one of my main people. 

If you remember nothing else I've ever told you, remember this: If someone who loves you tells you that you are experiencing a medical emergency and need to get to the hospital ASAP, DO IT. The stronger the instinct, the more reliable it is likely to be. Trust it. And, secondly, always take the time to spend every possible second with the people you love while you can. Those people are what really counts in this life.