2 Year Anniversary

 ***This post is semi-copied from my previous post on the same date last year. I looked at the calendar today and did a double-take! I am in such a different place now than I was just two years earlier. A special "Thank You" to my wonderful husband, Mike, who continues to take care of me, worry about me, and love me unconditionally. I love you!

Today, February 11th, marks the 2 year anniversary of my contracting Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I can remember that morning fairly well...waking up as usual around 7:30am to the sounds of giggles and whispers from the bedroom next to ours. Something didn't feel right though...my right hand was kinda numb and tingly but I just figured I'd slept on it funny and the feeling would eventually go away.

As I started to go about my day, I realized that I was having a very difficult time doing ordinary things, such as getting the girls dressed or brushing my hair or standing up. I thought I was coming down with a serious case of the flu for sure! It got so disturbing that I actually had to call Mike and ask him to come home from work-something I never do, even when I am sick. We made an appointment to see the Dr. the following morning, hoping to figure out what was going on as quickly as possible before I felt any worse.

As many of you know, I did not get better, instead starting down the road to total body paralysis (with the exception of much of my face) and the need to be ventilated so that I could breathe.

I try to not remember those days. I was scared. I was lonely. I was confused. I had never been in the hospital, with the exception of giving birth to the girls, never broken a bone or needed stitches, perfect attendance for over 5 years at my past job and in school. "I" didn't get sick...why was this happening to me? What did I do wrong?

Of course, I know that I didn't do anything wrong and there is no answer to the "why" part of it. But I still asked myself those questions over and over-and ultimately it came back to my realization that everything happens for a reason, and although I am not always meant to understand it, it had a purpose.

I am here today, I am happy and fairly healthy, surrounded by loving friends and family and enjoying all the things that this life offers. And....I guess that's the whole point. So, today I am remembering, and also moving another step further down the road. Not the road of forgetting, but of living and loving and being happy...AMEN!