A Lesson Learned

Have you ever had one of those amazingly happy days where everything is going just right, when suddenly the pin-prick of life comes along and bursts your bubble? I had just such a day last weekend and I would like to share the experience with you.

After four months of working six days a week, I finally had a Saturday off. After a fun Friday night of having drinks with some friends, I awoke Saturday morning feeling refreshed and excited. A good friend of mine, "Kubicki", had promised to loan me his 2003 BMW 325i for the day while he was at work. As a big fan of BMW's, it was like a dream come true! This beauty has dark blue metallic paint, a tan leather interior and 5 speeds of get-up-and-go. I picked up the car with another buddy named "Omar" and off we went for an afternoon of fast fun in the sun!

We tooled around the local highways with the sunroof open, the windows down and the tunes up...it was truly an amazing experience! At one point I turned to Omar and said "life just doesn't get any better than this", to which he readily agreed. This is not the part of the experience that I wanted to share with you...this is where the pin-prick comes in.

After returning the car to Kubicki and thanking him profusely for the driving experience of a lifetime, I went home to savour my amazing day and to take a little nap. As I slept, I heard the telephone ringing several times over the course of an hour or so, but was unable/unwilling to pull myself from my slumber to answer it. When I finally relented, I received some news that sent me spinning...my granddaughter "Boo" had been injured in a fall while visiting her father in Welland and needed surgery to repair the damage. She had broken her arm, with the bone protruding through her skin and had also dislocated her elbow. My daughter was understandably upset and concerned and I needed to get to them both. Boo was being transferred to Niagara Falls by ambulance for the surgery, so I picked up my daughter's boyfriend Aaron and we made the two hour drive as quickly as we could, to be there before the surgery.

When we arrived, I was greeted by the sight of my poor Boo lying in a hospital bed with intervenous in one arm and a dressing on the other. She looked so pale and small it was breaking my heart in pieces. I went to her and talked with her, to reassure her that Papa was here now and that he wasn't going anywhere. She was so strong and brave about what had happened and what she was facing, it made me incredibly proud. She has always been a tough, rough-and-tumble kind of kid, but it was truly awesome how she held up.

The surgery went well and when she came out of recovery she was happy to see her people, Mom, Aaron, Jenny and I, waiting for her. Mom and Aaron stayed with her that first night and we were all back to see her the next morning. We all spent Sunday with her, but there was a dilemma for Mom. She was graduating university the next morning but did not want to leave her baby. After much prodding, we were able to convince her to attend graduation. I agreed to stay with Boo until her anticipated release Monday morning, so Mom grudgingly agreed to return to London Sunday night.

I spent the evening at her bedside, watching movies, talking and keeping her fed. After a long Sunday evening and a difficult first trip to the bathroom, I tucked her back into bed and was stroking her hair to help her drift off to sleep. She puckered her lips for a kiss and when I leaned down to kiss her, she thanked me for staying with her and taking care of her...and then she told me I was her hero. Her beautiful little face staring up at me with a smile that would melt your heart was a tender and special moment I will never forget. As I sat back down on the chair beside her, I realized that I had learned something from her that night. My comment to Omar the day before came to mind and I realized that I was wrong...although the afternoon with the BMW was awesome, I realized at that moment that life doesn't get any better than this.