Today is a day to say thank you for something. Anything you want. Well, I've had a good year, so I have many things to be grateful for. Friends, a truly great man that I love, I still have my job, I have a nice house... But there is one truly life changing thing I must say thank you for.
In June, my mom had a horrible accident. As you can remember, I cried and didn't sleep for months. My mom was left in the hospital for a week, she couldn't walk or move. Then, after a hellish stay there, where she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer for a full day - a secret that was hidden from me, maybe because I would not handle it, she went home. A month of staying in bed, just barely getting up. A month of her scared everytime she got up - the pain was unbelievable for her, soups, taking her to the bathroom, bathing her, buying her clothes that could make life easier... My mom was truly in pain, and that sight was unbelievably painful for me to watch and endure. I cannot even explain how it feels to see the one person you love with your whole heart, crying. Every night I came home, not crying... howling. I cried so loud and screamed so hard...
Every time the nurses came in to bathe her at the hospital, I stood outside, kneeling down in front of her door, praying that the pain would go away, that I could carry that pain so that she would not scream. When it was finished, I had to wipe away my tears and put on a brave face, smile and make her laugh - even if I was dying myself, a little.
After that, she got in a wheel chair. Another loads of days, thinking that maybe she would not get up or even walk. Months of therapy, where I would call her and listen to her cry that it hurt so bad... I begged her, you gotta be tough for me, because you need to get better. The therapy will work, I repeated. For her, and for me.
One day, I left work early and I drove to see her. I rang the doorbell. She greeted me at the door. On her own two feet. I stood there, speechless. This was the most happiest day of my entire year. I hugged her and cried for an eternity. I could not believe it - she was walking.
Well, I am glad to report that mom perfectly ok. The scar is there, but the pain is gone. Most of all, I am grateful for one thing. She is alive. To think that just for a moment I could have lost her. Who knows, two inches to the left or the right and today it would be different for me. But God gave me a gift. He gave me my mother back. And though I have nightmares, from time to time, of that horrible day when my stepdad called me and told me the bad news, there is nothing more wonderful than being thankful for her recovering 100%.
Today as I sat down, we raised our glasses and toasted to her. It was brief, because if my mom is one thing is this: a tough cookie. When her eyes watered up a bit while we said thanks, I said thank you to God for one thing: I could hear her, I could see her, I could be next to her.
This, my friends, is the greatest Thanksgiving I could ever have.
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