I was talking to my older brother on the phone, and he was describing the three parties he and his wife were having to celebrate her sixtieth birthday. Due to restricted quarantine rules in Israel, no parties with more than ten people are allowed. So, they would invite their kids, their kids’ partners and spouses, and their granddaughter one day; their best friends another day; and my sister-in-law’s best friends from childhood with their husbands the third day.
This description triggered a series of associations. First, I recalled the close friendship they had – almost like family – with one of the couples. Then, it came to mind that the wife in that couple had diabetes. And finally, I recalled that she’d already been diabetic when both friends had gotten together many years ago. That made me think of the amount of years this woman must have lived with her illness, have been forced to take thorough care of herself, and have born the complications it caused, if it had caused them.
I had a brain injury that has generated a series of disabilities. My seizures are preventing me from working. And I’m eagerly waiting for the day I will heal and be able to cook and clean and walk; that I’ll be autonomous. In two years, I’ll be able to say hello to the new “me.” But my brother and sister-in-law’s friend has lived and will live with diabetes; she didn’t and won’t heal. So, when I feel fettered by my weak leg and complain about my seizures’ preventing me from having an active, fulfilling, and financially successful work life, I should remember this friend and consider myself lucky.
This description triggered a series of associations. First, I recalled the close friendship they had – almost like family – with one of the couples. Then, it came to mind that the wife in that couple had diabetes. And finally, I recalled that she’d already been diabetic when both friends had gotten together many years ago. That made me think of the amount of years this woman must have lived with her illness, have been forced to take thorough care of herself, and have born the complications it caused, if it had caused them.
I had a brain injury that has generated a series of disabilities. My seizures are preventing me from working. And I’m eagerly waiting for the day I will heal and be able to cook and clean and walk; that I’ll be autonomous. In two years, I’ll be able to say hello to the new “me.” But my brother and sister-in-law’s friend has lived and will live with diabetes; she didn’t and won’t heal. So, when I feel fettered by my weak leg and complain about my seizures’ preventing me from having an active, fulfilling, and financially successful work life, I should remember this friend and consider myself lucky.
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