Everywhere...

B"H

...acts of life

She did not look very strong.  Her steps were tiny and deliberate.  Most people who need oxygen constantly either wear the canister in a back pack or roll it on wheels.  This older lady was holding her metal canister like a beloved baby.  I understand.  

Oxygen is smooth and comforting.  It is the breath of G-d, the elixir of life when the lungs are filled with fluid.  Oxygen keeps the body at peace while the siphon drains liters of fluid from the pleura.  Then the pleasure of coughing begins.  It is important to puff up the lungs so they may work again.  There is nothing boring about breathing.  

There is nothing boring about any aspect of life.  Miracles are multi-dimensional and have nothing to do with that little purple and pink wand with the star and the ribbons and the glitter that sings a song when you tap or whack someone.  Miracles assign many responsibilities.  It is difficult business to rise to the occasion of this gift.  

I have a beloved Nurse Cora.  She is an older woman who has practiced oncology nursing for decades.  She has witnessed many changes, many miracles.  These past number of years she has been the telephone nurse in my doctors' office.  The day our souls bonded in loving friendship was a normal day.  After  chemo that week my body was experiencing strange and distressing sensations.  I must have called the nurses' line four or five times.  By the last call my Nurse Cora said, "Listen!  you are making yourself nuts trying to interpret every twitch, twinge, and thwack.  It's not living.  Calm down and remember that you will be getting your tests and scans soon enough.  Then you will get the inside picture.  You have a great battle going on within you.  We expect you to feel the fury of the fight.  Keep breathing, keep breathing my dear."  Something very deep and knowing embraced me that day and forward.

A few days ago I saw my doctor and was able to see my Nurse Cora.  She and I fell into each others arms crying and proclaiming, "We did it.  We made it through 2012!"

Wishing all a most blessed new year.  May 2013 bestow good healing, renewal of health, continued wellness, and all the blessings that allow us to participate in the healing of the world.  

Peace, peace, peace.