March 9, 2013: Anxiety Epilogue

My mom

In my mom's typical words of wisdom, she gave me encouragement on my recent anxiety episodes (described in my MRI blog from a couple of days ago). She shared a story of her own anxiety when I was fifteen and hospitalized for over a week with pneumonia.

Mom's words describing this event in our lives were heart-wrenching to read. I really had no idea how difficult this was for her. As an adult and parent myself, I now completely understand. Reading her words brought an unexpected mist to my eyes and a lump in my throat.

"You described it perfectly in your blog. Do you agree that it's hard to understand (anxiety) until we experience it? Be strong, be strong...those were the words (my friend and co-worker) spoke to me as she stroked my back. You'd been in the hospital for over a week with pneumonia and still wasn't getting better. You weren't responding to the typical drugs used to treat pneumonia. The doctor changed your meds and the very next day you miraculously came around and sat up in bed. It was a very good day."

Hearing my mom's story of past anxiety reminded me that we are all struggling with something at any given time. It may be anxiety, stress, pain...a loss. Very rarely do people share these struggles nor do they need to. As humans we need to give each other a break as we whisk through our daily lives.

The smile that appears to be absent or the silence that seems rude may have a deeper meaning. I am thankful for my mom's caring friend and the comfort she gave her way back when. My mom sure never forgot. A lesson for us all.