Such a long day

How do you find the beauty in simple moments when you’re sitting in the emergency room?  When you walk into an examining room and see the one you love hooked up to oxygen and an IV?  It’s during those moments that all time stands still, and every emotion inside of you wants to flow over… but you try to hold it back and be brave for the one who’s hurting.  So all you can do is pray…

Nate — who has been suffering from a mild case of bronchitis — was working on the cat door last night and breathed in some of the wood dust he was sanding.  The dust in his lungs, added to the bronchitis, caused him to cough so hard I thought he was going to die.  I’ve never heard someone cough like that — or so badly — and wanted him to go to the ER right then and there.  Nate (being a typical male) said he’d see how he was in the morning.  I didn’t know what was happening, only that he couldn’t breathe well and that it wasn’t getting any better.  All night long, we lay awake.  I stared at the ceiling and wondered what the morning would bring.  Nate struggled for air. 

Finally, around 5:30 am, Nate mentioned the emergency room and that was the only encouragement I needed.  I hopped out of bed and scrambled to get myself together.  (The goal was to move quickly, so I was still a mess but at least I wouldn’t scare anyone with my wild-woman hairstyle).  Before I knew it, Nate had been whisked into an examining room in the ER, and I was left in the waiting room.  Hoping… wondering… praying.

When I was allowed to enter the examining room,I wasn’t prepared to see him with an IV and hooked up to oxygen.  The sight of him lying there, looking so sick and hooked up to the tubes, made me want to cry; but I just smiled bravely and whispered, “I love you!”

After several hours of treatment that helped him breathe easier, he was released.  Although he hasn’t had an asthma attack for years, the bronchitis and sawdust brought one on this morning.  I’ve never been around him when he’s had one and hopefully he won’t have one again.  It’s scary and leaves you feeling helpless.

Today, I’m not thankful for a simple thing.  I’m so thankful that my husband is okay and so close to being back to his healthy, normal self.  I love you, Nate! 

(Seriously, tell someone close to you that you love them, because life is so precious!!).