Put On My Own Socks

Yesterday my sister Mell and I went to the doctor for our shots, weighed in, ran a few errands, had lunch and shopped a little bit. As we were driving I asked her about her husband Larry. He has been sick for a long time with several issues. He had cancer in his throat and went through radiation and some other treatments but he still doesn't feel well. For the last year he's had constant nausea and has trouble eating. I know my sister is worried about him but she is always so calm and kind. She said he asked her to take his socks off before she left. I was telling her about my feelings about life as we were driving from store to store. While I was at the beach we had so much fun. I wasn't worried about anything knowing Mindi was capable of taking care of the house and all my critters. Since I've been home the reality has set in that life is not a vacation. Rich gets up everyday and goes to work in the heat while I stay home and work around the house in the cool. I feel guilty about that. I feel like his life is working and churching and we have very little time to spend together and even talk. As I was complaining to Mell she said, "well at least he isn't sleeping in the chair all day and you have to take his socks off." That ingratitude creeps in all the time with me these days. Anyway, as I was reading in my book, "Enjoy Life's Journey," today she talked about a study that was done at Harvard Medical School by Dr. Silverman that says, "Up to fifteen years can be added to your life by reducing three emotional factors: (1) loneliness, (2) repressed anger, and (3) the fast pace of life." The study concluded that these factors are more important to our health than diet, weight, or heredity. I know when I first had the symptoms of anxiety and depression I had suffered a miscarriage, had four kids under the age of nine and Rich was killing himself to find work to support us through the recession we were in. This morning when I woke up, two of my pumps on my ponds were broken and the hose to my mister sprung a leak. The fact that it is going to be almost 120 degrees today doesn't help either. I know for sure that life is not sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in, it's dealing with all those little things that come our way daily. I just hope I can survive the heat and put on my own socks someday.