Best advice from my mom

When I was a young mother and struggling, my own mother, wise beyond her years, said something very profound to me. Everything has it's own time. Right now is your time to be a young mom with little children. Enjoy every moment because before you know it, these little children will be grown and gone and have children of their own. Wow, 30 years later I'm holding my youngest grandbaby in my lap wondering how those 30 years slipped through my fingers. My lovely daughter turns 30 this year, which makes me, gulp, 50???? arg. I did think about what my mom said over and over through the years. I made each moment count. The terribly twos weren't so terrible, just challenging because I knew "that too would pass" and I would be on to the next "time" in my adventure of life. The days when I thought I'd go crazy with the bickering between my two children would never end, did end and now they are the best of friends and love each other so much, though they live hundreds of miles apart. I treasured every moment of their teenage years, as trying as some moments were (sigh) because I knew how short 4 years would be in the grand scheme of things. Some of my most treasured moments, looking back were when my son was in college. I worked at the college he was attending and he would come to the library where I worked and eat lunch with me every day. This was such a treat for me to spend this small amount of time, just the two of us. Some days we didn't even talk, he would study, I would read, but just being together, these were precious moments. Now he has a son of his own and a daughter on the way.

I say all this to explain that since my kids grew up and moved on I got caught up in the world of high stress work being the center of my life. My husband and I both worked full time and that was kind of the center of our lives. We spent the weekend with the grandkids if they lived near us and we would vacation to visit those who lived away from, IF we could get the time off of work to visit them. Life was whizzing by at an alarming rate. I can't remember the last time I actually felt good physically but I just kept ignoring every sign. Finally the pain took over and I had to seek help. I was in such denial! Isn't it funny how we just don't like to face our own truth. It was a really tough decision for me to have to leave my job. I really loved it and the people I worked with, but I had to try to get healthy.

I've now reached a new "time" in my life to take care of myself, to spend moments doing things for myself, to spend time with my family, and to learn how to live well with this disease.