The past few months have been pretty interesting. In early January I got a call at work from my mother-in-law. She called my work line not my cell which threw me off a bit. She sounded off and I knew she had a doctors appointment that morning. She called and said, "its nothing to worry about, just a cyst and I will see more doctors and when I know more I will let you know." I got a bit quiet and had to ask why more doctors. She said, "oh just to get a second opinion." Then she changed the subject so fast I got whiplash. Said she was taking me to see Cher as an early birthday gift. Then asked if I would tell my husband the news she gave me. Didn't feel it was my place since I felt something was off. So, I had hubby call her.
Fast forward to July 4th. She has been attending every family function and has been in good spirits. Her CYST is shrinking and all is good. Huh, shrinking cyst and radiation for the past few months and now the date of a surgery was given. Well, ok, but nothing serious... hmmm. That day I had a very special bonding moment with my father-in-law. He showed me a collage the my mother-in-law was working on. It was pictures of the two of them over the 30 years that they have known each other. From their dating days to the wedding and now. The way he told me about the pictures and the look on his face was priceless. He loves my MIL so much and just kept telling me story after story. I have been a part of this family for almost 21 years and I listened to his story as if I hadn't heard some of it.
He showed me pics from recent trips they took. Most pictures he took of her while she wasn't looking. I thought, he truly loves and adores her. How many men take pics of their wife of 30 plus years and talks about her like she is the most beautiful creature on earth?
Heck, I was jealous! I told hubby, hey if he raised you why aren't you that smitten with me. He said he's not a picture person but promised to have more pics taken of us, and that he was smitten.
Well, let me just get to now. Monday, was surgery date. Monday, the cat was let out of the bag. Monday, was one of the hardest days I had to endure. My mother-in-law had colon cancer. Her "CYST" was actually a malignant tumor. She had that and part of her colon removed. To say the blow wasn't hard would be a lie, even though our suspicions were there.
I made it to the hospital on Wednesday, my father-in-law greeted us at the elevators and my heart broke. He was a man in pain. His partner was in pain and he couldn't do a thing about it. He was so worried and stressed my heart broke for him. Walking in and seeing my mom-in-law had me fighting tears. We got to talk and visit. The battle will be long but with the love of her life by her side, I am sure it will be a bit more bearable.
To see couples like this gives me hope. Hope that men that are strong and love their wives still exist. Not all men treat woman as if they were disposable. True love is hard to find but when you find it, you just know. Sometime words aren't needed. Just a hug or a touch can speak volumes.
We have so much to learn from older couples. Life isn't easy, she's a cruel bitch at times but will we just give up and walk away when the going gets tough? Let's hope that we can all learn from those couples that are still together regardless of what life has handed them.
No comments:
Post a Comment