Our plans are not our own

No matter how many times I say it, it never ceases to surprise me how much our plans are not our own.

Tonight I should have been on my way to the border to begin a trip to a research hospital. The doctors finally decided my case was strange enough that they would take me and see if they can find a root cause or how to fix the teetering three-legged stool problem (see earlier blogs).

However, at the last minute, with my bags already packed (mostly, at least), they canceled my appointment and moved it to the end of the month. While this means that I will have to wait yet another month before possibly catching a glimpse of what can be done to straighten me out, it also comes at a time when I actually needed to stay behind in order to take care of a variety of issues that cropped up here. I was going to be absolutely unable to take care of those issues because missing the appointment at the research hospital was not an option.

I think it is also giving my poor parents a little bit of a break. My sister was involved in a car accident, and she is going to have to undergo a long time of physical therapy to ensure that the damage to her neck does not lead to permanent nerve damage. For many of you this is now old news, for those of you that didn't know this, I'm sorry it seems so cavalierly put. I assure you it's not, it has been something at the forefront of all of our minds. However, my parents were wondering how they were going to manage the church, the school, the school for the deaf, a daughter in rehabilitation, and a son in the hospital - with the two medical issues being about 3 hours apart from each other.

Needless to say, my parents were already under a lot of strain, and this will give them an opportunity to handle one of these issues at a time. It was unexpected, but at the same time, just what we actually needed.

From my first blog ever, about a year ago, until today...you, my friends, have been told of some of these happenings in my life - and yet, it continues to amaze me how things happen as they should (at least in 20-20 hindsight, that is. ;-)  ).

This week has been filled with a variety of other random events.

-I have managed to put to peace a long and unduly sad chapter in my life. It is interesting how such small things as a few simple words can make a big difference.

-I have regained a bit more mobility in the hand that underwent surgery, enabling me to type longer. Hopefully this will help more as the dissertation really gets underway. :-)

-I got to listen to an amazing speaker who came to inspire the undergraduates, but left me grateful as well. Many......ALL...of the points I usually try to make in class to the younglings were in his presentation. In him, I got the chance to see the possibilities of a life spent teaching and pursuing those very principles. I am grateful for the opportunity to have met this man, and encouraged by the positive impact that this focus CAN have. In a way, I feel it is a potential foreshadowing of what "could" be. Even if I never live long enough to see it, at least I know the path is not a desolate or worse...wrong...one.

-I have kicked more younglings out of the proverbial nest that teaching grants us, and hope to see them fly.

-I was able to begin the process of clarification and hopefully growth with a long time friend and sometime roommate.

-I have been able to share how much I was impacted by the friendship and love of a single wonderful person, though it's been more than a year since we've been face-to-face. A different me emerged from that friendship, and it's always wonderful to remember such exquisite though sadly rare joys in life.

-I have been able to share some of my life's story with a peer, to encourage this person in their own budding teaching, and seen success come of this.

-I have been able to remind those I care about of how much I love them, and look forward to as many chances as I can, but am grateful for any I've gotten.

-I have been able to share some of my old writing with my parents, to whom I am continually grateful.

-I was given another chance to share my thoughts with you, my friends. God bless you all...thank you for helping make me...ME.