And so it goes..

Last night I chose to watch a favorite tv drama… “This is Us”…. or as Jack likes to call it, “This is Sad”. Since I am a sorry, pitiful fan I had no faith that the Memphis Grizzlies were going to win the playoff game and had gone upstairs choosing the tv show instead.

Big mistake. Gut wrenching. Sobbed my face off. If you’re a “This is Us” fan you know exactly what I’m talking about

The words and music of the Billy Joel song were so poignant and fit the sentiment of the story line so well that I woke this morning thinking of it all…. and how it relates to my story.

Life is difficult sometimes. I know I’m in good company when I make this statement. I spend an exorbitant amount of time comparing my struggles to those of others and scolding myself for complaining when so many have it so much worse.

But each of us face our own battles. We trust that God listens and hears us….I’m pretty sure it’s not a competition. There are surely strategies to make things seem better… well, most of the time.

For example

Last Friday Jack and I and our sweet friends decided to go to dinner downtown. It was a beautiful night and the restaurant, a relatively new one in town, had been highly recommended by our boys and their wives as a “must”…. great food, interesting and different menu and an awesome atmosphere. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. But… I had been struggling a couple of days with hip pain (my compadre of doctors tell me the hip is shot and I need a new one) but I thought I was ok for the time being…..

And then the chair.

There was just something about it. I couldn’t seem to get comfortable. I twisted and turned and tried hard to make the best of it, enjoying the awesome dinner, great conversation, and other friends who dropped by, laughing and having just the greatest time.

And then I tried to stand up.

Trust me when I say “The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be”….. I COULD NOT WALK. The pain in my hip was horrendous and I was paralyzed. Jack, bless his heart, was doing his best to help and our friend Jim was on the other side of me doing the same. I was mortified. So dang embarrassed! I was sure everyone in the restaurant would think I had enjoyed too much Sauvignon Blanc …ha.. We make it out to the street where Jack had parked and of course, I couldn’t get up in the explorer to save my dang life! Traffic is rolling by, as it does in downtown Jonesboro, and suddenly a car pulls up alongside of us. A young lady rolls the window down and asks if I need help. She is proud to say she’s a registered CNA and works at a nursing home. JUST KILL ME NOW. We assured her I was ok and finally Jack was able to maneuver me and my dead leg up and into the car.

It’s Wednesday after the debacle so I can laugh. But let me tell you I wasn’t laughing Friday night.

Long story short. I’ve had hip pain for years and have known the osteoarthritis existed for many of those years. But being the daughter of Irene, I decided I was able to deal with the pain. And I did. Years of bus trips, standing and teaching…… days when I came home and hit the ibuprofen bottle hard, ha.

The best example was when I took the kiddos to sing in Little Rock at the Capitol the last year I taught. In a driving rain my two bus loads of singers run (I walked) up the beautiful walkway into the Capitol and thanks to Mallory Mitchell (drama goddess) I managed to walk up the steps to the rotunda to perform.

When we took the kids to the mall for lunch and Christmas shopping I went to the Dillard’s furniture showroom, found a chair and collapsed. We made it back to Jonesboro in a thunderstorm (through construction in Jacksonville where we almost died) and I was back at the Country Club for the teacher Christmas party by 6:30.

Told you I was tough.

But when you can’t walk and nursing home workers are offering their services you finally get the drift. Let’s just say appointments are being made.

It’s a tough decision when you have stage 4 lung cancer to jump (and I use that phrase loosely) into a hip replacement surgery. Plus, it sounds so freakin’ OLD.

Vain much Suzanne?

All joking aside. Times are hard. There are so many things wrong right now. It’s tough to find humor in anything.

I have dear friends suffering with cancer, Putin is blowing the Ukraine up and killing innocent men, women and children….The Supreme Court is blowing up and people are at each other’s throats….Naomi Judd died….. good grief. I don’t dare wonder what will come next.

Do you feel me?

One of my best friends has the ability to deny. Queen of denial we like to call her. And you know what? Somedays I just have to go there. I pretend. I sleep late and watch Netflix and avoid the news. I pretend cancer and depression and mental illness and war don’t exist. Because truthfully we teachers are trained to be fixers and when we can’t fix something we tend to freak out.

In Arkansas teachers are now being accused of indoctrinating students and not training them for the real world by our next governor… so I try not to think about that either.

Can’t fix it.

But I sit here tonight listening to Jack mow the grass, looking at the beautiful patio plants outside the window, thinking about the women’s group at my church and how wonderful they are to minister to women who are overcoming adversity and entering the world, I listen to my pastor and his passionate words and encouragement….I think of my boys and their families and how precious they are and how their lives are full and good…and I anticipate a patio party with friends who have spread across Arkansas and are coming back to my house for one more night.. …

And I squeeze the love out of each minute, denying the difficult and what I don’t want to face. Sometimes denial is all ya got…

And so it goes.