Perspective

Today my uncle was in a car crash.  It happened in the morning as he and my aunt were going on their daily morning walk.  He was doing the right thing, trying to get in his exercise, trying to prolong his life.  But while he was trying to prolong his life he could have also lost it.  Thankfully, he seems to be fine.  He might have a dislocated thumb and he does have a concussion; however, things could have definitely gone a different way.

With the hustle and bustle of the events of the day and going to work I pushed a lot of my own feelings aside.    Years of having family members die/and/or in and out of the hospital, emergencies now seem to leave me numb.  When I finally got the chance to reflect on the day so many thoughts and feelings were put into perspective.  It made me remember something that I learned long ago, that life is so precious, family and friends are so precious, and you never quite when they will leave you or when you will need them.

I also witnessed the sadness and the strength of my aunt.  As much as I sometimes have a roller coaster relationship with my family, hearing my aunt cry over the phone as she was trying to tell me what happened broke my heart.  Trying to picture how she felt witnessing the man she loves in an accident, well, I can't even imagine what that would be like.  It made me long for those who have passed.  It made me think about will I ever be in a position where someone will feel the same about me if I am hurt or sick?  It made me think that maybe my anti-dating, man-bashing days should come to an end.  That maybe I am ready to love again.

My lingering thoughts about my uncle's health all day made me realize how all the stupid battles that I have fought are indeed just stupid.  Because in the end, all you really have is your friends and your family.  Arguments about putting away the dishes or texts messages about laundry are really just trivial.  When someone in your circle is faced with a tremendous hardship you put those silly things aside and you rally.

Today my uncle was in a car crash.  And today I received the jolt I needed to dismiss my funky attitude, to say goodbye for my despair, and to embrace a goody but oldie perspective on life, love, and all the things in between.