Saturday, September 12, 2009

A Memorable Anniversary Today

This morning we got a phone call from Tom, our brother-in-law, who wished Paul a Happy Anniversary.

Paul was puzzled until Tom said twenty-three years ago today you had triple bypass surgery.

That comment brought back a lot of memories. I immediately pulled my daily devotional book that I haven't read for awhile and turned to September 12.

I used to write important events that happened on the devotional page. Sure enough. I verified Tom's phone call info.

Twenty-three years! Unbelievable.

Since then Paul has had another heart attack in 1990, a stroke in 2005, carotid artery surgery in 2008, and knee surgery in 2009.

But for all that fixing of his physical body, that man has a great heart.

I don't know what condition his physical heart is in today (seems great), but his emotional and spiritual heart are quite healthy. I'm extremely grateful that we've had twenty-three years together since that day that was so scary twenty-three years ago. After that and being the obsessive, compulsive person that I am, I made him eat his three oat bran muffins every day. I even packed them in his suitcase for days he was traveling. We ate from the heart healthy recipe book. We did everything by the book for a solid year. At his next annual checkup, his blood work showed that all of our hard work did not one bit of good. His numbers were worse.

I'll never forget Paul's comment after that report: "You mean I've deprived myself of all the foods I love and it did no good?!!"
Needless to say, after that we were much more balanced.

Reality check: Our days and times are in God's hands. To each there is a season, a time to live and a time to die. We're enjoying the time we are given. We are grateful. Life is good and is a wonderful adventure. We're celebrating this anniversary today. Glad someone reminded us what it is. LOL
MB