Blessings

I worked a double shift Sunday. It made for a really long day, but a few of my patients (or maybe I should call them residents) helped make it better. Let me explain. I have one room that two young guys live in. I call them "young" because they really are. One guy (I'll call him John for privacy reasons)is only 51 and the other is only 53. John is a quadriplegic who suffered a spinal cord injury when he decided to get drunk and go swimming in a quarry with his girlfriend. I don't know all the details, but this guy, over the years, has lost both legs just above the knees, has a colostomy, and no feeling below his nipple line. He has been that way since he was in his 30's. His attitude is great though! He is our practical jokester. The one who will have you digging in the closet looking for his shoes (ha!). I have to wonder how he dealt with his injury in the beginning. And how would I handle it if it were me? His roomate (whom I will call Joe for privacy reasons) is a paraplegic who has lost one leg at the knee and has no feeling from the waist down. I don't know what his story is, but he is also very upbeat and happy most of the time. I have bonded with these two jokers, and so they worry about me. Anyway, they often order food because they realize how bad the food in a nursing home is. On Sunday night they decided to order a pizza for for their dinner. Keep in mind that John has to be fed. I agreed to feed him his pizza. When it was delivered I went in their room to feed him. They made me pull up a chair, sit down, and eat pizza with them while feeding John in the process. I spent that 20 minutes just enjoying their company and forgetting I was at work. It made the rest of the night a little easier to get through. It also made me think. How would I react if something happened to put me in the position they are in? I can't honestly answer that question, but I just don't know if I could handle it. To lay in a bed or sit in a wheelchair day in and day out, not being able to move anything but my head and having to rely on other people for absolutely EVERYTHING would be devastating to me. And so I thank God. I thank Him for all that I am, and all the blessings in my life. In our day to day lives, we often don't think of the little things as blessings, but they are. Just being able to brush my own teeth each day, or to pick up the remote to the TV, or even sitting here now and typing this blog.....all are blessings we are given each day. How would we feel if they were taken away?