In March, my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer. In April, my dad passed away. In May, mom got to come home from the care center, on hospice, for a month before she passed away. I was in the room with both of them passed away, just two months apart. Those two months seemed like an eternity to me. We knew that mom only had a limited time, but we didn't know what that limit was, so every day was a waiting game, grateful to still have her, but also knowing that it was just one more day in the waiting game. That might sound harsh...but it's the truth.
In the midst of everything, my mom had suffered a stroke that paralyzed her left side and made her a different person. She was still my mom, but she wasn't the mom I had known for 27 years. She was different. So that was hard.
At my dad's funeral, my brother gave me my dad's watch, which I have worn pretty much daily since then. It was my sister that reminded me that this was my dad's newest watch, he'd got it for his birthday in February.
My mom, at a loss as to what to get him for his birthday, was grateful when my sister saw the watch at Kohl's and bought it for her to give my dad. It was a couple weeks belated though. (Dad's birthday being on the 3rd and it was the 15th when my sister brought the watch over) But when my mom said, "Dad, I finally have your birthday present." He came right over to see what it was.
Excited, he had the watch immediately removed from it's package and pulled it onto his wrist. He looked it over, nodded and said, "Well, it was worth the wait."
So now, when I look at my watch, I remember my parents. But not only that. I remember what he said that day. There are many things in life that are all the better simply because they are worth the wait. It's not easy to wait, and there are days when time seems to move all the more slowly because of the waiting. But my dad was right and when I remember that, it makes it a little bit easier.
And, my friend was kind enough to get my watch engraved for me for MY BIRTHDAY!
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