Words from the Wise

Yesterday, I decided to see what would happen if I tried to run.  The doctors keep asking, I keep wondering... so... I went for it.  And failed.  Miserably.  I walked for 6 minutes first, then I decided to run 10 minutes and walk some more.  My legs were hurting before I even started, but I figured 10 minutes wouldn't kill me.  However, I made it 8 minutes into the run and felt the very first pain of an oncoming explosion...  the feeling that I have pushed through far too many times.  I know from experience that when I keep running after I feel that very first not-so-pleasant feeling, the rest of the day is going to consist of ridiculous amounts of pain and getting sick.  I had plans to make a surprise visit to my grandma's, and thankfully, I was able to realize that visiting grandma was much more important than that run, so I went back to walking for a few minutes before calling it quits, giving my intestines some time to settle down, and cleaning up to see Grandma. 

My grandma lives in an assisted living place, and I have to admit... I almost want to move in there with her.  It's so cool.  They have activities throughout the day on the week days, and they even have an "outing" every week... ranging from trips to museums to dinner at a restaurant.  As soon as I walked in, I could hear my Grandma's voice so I walked up behind her and said "Hi Grandma!"  The first thing she said was "MICHELLE! Where's your father?!" I told her that I drove there, and apparently she forgot that I'm 20 years old because she went around to everyone there (nurses included) and told them that I drove myself to come visit her!  It was very funny, and once my grandma remembered that I was 20, she decided to have all of her friends guess my age.  Most seemed to think I was somewhere between 13-15 years old.  Seeing as I've never looked my age, it doesn't bother me at all anymore so I was getting a kick out of it.  Anyways, another reason I love that place is because I love old people.  They know a whole lot more about life than I do, and they've been through everything from the Great Depression, to WWII, to the Cold War.  They know the challenges of life... but they also know the joy of life.  Grandma also had to explain to everyone that I was very sick and home from college.  A lot of them told me that I was handling it so well and that it was great that I was still smiling so much.  It made my day.  Usually people will say something along the lines of "You look good!"  Honestly, that just makes me wish I could say that I feel the same.  The nurse at my Internists even told me that I couldn't be that sick because I smiled.  Seriously?  Is it a requirement for sick people to be miserably 24/7?  The old people said it much better.  Much, much better.  My grandma had even gone to the extent of explaining how my blood was going to be sent to California to get tested for Lyme.  Usually I'm very careful that whoever is explaining everything is explaining it accurately, but... I couldn't help but be amused at what happens when stuff about Lyme Disease spreads around an assisted living center.  Someone had asked me what it was and how I could have gotten it.  I explained that people get it from ticks, and that I spent 7 years of my life running at a park that the newspaper nicknamed "Ground Zero for Lyme Disease."  I also made sure to tell them that as of now, we don't know what I have, so it might be something else.  First, a lady explained it to another person by saying that I went to a park and the bugs made me sick.  By the end of the day, word had gone around that I picked up a bug at school called Lyme.  I couldn't help but laugh about that when I was driving home.

Before I headed home, I joined them in the entertainment for the afternoon... listening to a man (who happened to know my entire family) sing old songs that they could sing along too.  I explained to Grandma that he used to be her UPS man, and she loved it when he pointed her out in the crowd and said that he used to make deliveries at her house.  Grandma was having a blast singing to all of the songs, and I was very, very happy about it.  I don't know if people in heaven can see what's going on down here or not, but if they can... I think Grandpa was enjoying the scene too.  Before I headed home, a bunch of the ladies wished me well and gave me some very important advice: "You have a long time.  Take care of yourself. "  Finally.  People who weren't so rushed to get through life.  People who had already been through at least 4x more of it than I have.  Of course they wanted me to get better... but, life is long.  Things will get better.  Eventually.