Time: the Best Present of All

Yesterday my Mom celebrated her 58th birthday.  I'm sure she doesn't mind me sharing her age because she is beautiful and has worked hard to get to 58.  My Mom is a 7 year lung cancer survivor.  I still remember where I was the day that my sister called to give me the news.  I had suspected that something was wrong for some time, but my Mom had waited to tell us until her diagnosis was confirmed and a treatment plan was developed.  Even during that awful time she wanted to spare us the hurt until the very last possible minute.  She opted for immediate surgery to remove part of her lung.  The doctors were 99% sure it was cancer, and, because of the horrible experience my grandmother had with her tumor during biopsy, she was afraid going in to biopsy would give it the opportunity to spread.  She just wanted it out.  My Mom never ceases to amaze me.  She had a terrible complication after the surgery.  We almost lost her.  Her 3-5 day stay in the hospital turned into 15.  The family was upset with the doctor and the hospital because a "mistake" had been made, and we weren't being told what was going on with her.  Through all of this my Mom never complained.  She did everything the doctors and nurses told her to do and tried to do it with a smile.  She still tells us to this day that she had the best surgeon available and that he saved her life.  I can't even begin to tell you in this small space all of the lessons that I learned from her during this time.  You may be thinking, "What does all of this have to do with time and a present?"  Here you go.  This year I was reminded of all of the pain that we went through during this time; the uncertainty, the fear and the anger, when my friend lost her Mom to lung cancer.  I was also reminded of how blessed I am to still have my Mom with me.  You see, I am no better or worse than my friend.  My Mom is not better or worse than my friend's Mom.  God could have called my Mom home 7 years ago, but He didn't.  It is for that reason that this year my husband and I cooked dinner and took it to my Mom's for her birthday.  When my daughters asked what we were getting her for her present, I told them that we were taking her dinner and spending time with her.  Precious, precious time.