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Throwback to August 3, 2011. The gratitude continues!

1. God is kind and merciful.

2. We are blessed with generous and compassionate friends who have extended their support in many ways.

3. Bad news travels across the country super-quickly–as did the prayer network–so Husband should now stop poo-poo’ing FB and text messaging.

4. Keep a list of all family members’ medications AND DOSAGES in your wallet. In times of crisis and near-panic, even those of us with superior intellect and memory (ha!) have difficulty recalling those fancy prescription names.

5. Pour yourself an alcoholic beverage BEFORE opening the hospital bill, not after, because your hands will be shaking too much to pour efficiently if you open the bill first. Take a deep gulp, then say a prayer of thanksgiving for health insurance.

6. Look at the faces of your beloved husband and children sitting with you at the supper table. Realize that you are living in one of those commercials: “Hospital bills: $xxx,xxx. Doctor bills: $xxx,xxx. Saturday evening with the whole family happy and together: priceless.” (OK, so I’m sappy tonight, and I don’t care.)

 7. Make sure you and your spouse have your legal documents in order. Last year, before our trip to England, we updated our wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives (shudder!). While at the hospital,I signed a stack of papers on behalf of Husband, and they did request a copy of POA. Yes, it’s morbid to think about and morbid to think about what fees your attorney will charge for all this, but having all this in place will give you peace of mind.

8. Make a serious appraisal of your life, health, and disability insurance. Here’s a grotesque twist of fate: Husband and I did this on the evening before his totally unexpected illness. We decided that our current level of disability insurance was not enough to sustain our lifestyle and put three kids through college. Then he quipped that he was fine and healthy so we needn’t worry. Yeah, fate has a sick sense of humor.

9. Keep smiling, even when it hurts. Case in point: Husband looks up from the model car he is assembling at dining room table, and states,”Take a good look at me. This is what my retirement will be like. Model building, and pants-optional-days. Yup, this is what you have to look forward to.”

10. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. Hubby went back to work this week, but only for 4 hours a day with a mandatory afternoon nap. I was enjoying having him home, but I am also enjoying getting back to our normal routine.

11. Take a notebook to each medical appointment and write down what the doctors tell you. Ask for help with spelling,too, so you can look it up when you get home.

12. Don’t let the internet scare you about each and every danger of the five POSSIBLE problems Hubby may have. Wait for test results patiently, and do not obsess about highly-unlikely scenarios. Do not obsess. I repeat, do not obsess.

13. Holiday dates are arbitrary. All that matters is that the family is together, and laughing, and not the actual date on the calendar. Tonight we celebrated our traditional “Christmas in July” — a bit late– by playing Christmas music during supper. It was a riot.