Small Things With Great Love: An Update

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" - Mother Teresa

What a beautiful reminder of what life is all about!

One of my grandmothers has been having a really rough time. She had foot surgery on October 11. She was taken back to the hospital on the 25th, and has been there since. She had surgery on the 27th, due to a blood infection from the previous surgery. She's been in the hospital for a week, and was scheduled for surgery this morning to move a vein from her right arm to her left leg because she's not getting enough blood flow to her foot for it to heal (I haven't heard an update on how she's doing yet).

I have, in many ways, felt helpless. I'd love to have the strength and energy to go to her house and unpack some things (they moved a few month ago and haven't been able to get completely unpacked and settled yet), while she's still in the hospital - well, anytime, but it'd be a nice surprise. But, I haven't been able to, thus far.

So, I've been doing what I am able to do.

• I've been keeping her in my thoughts and prayers.
• I've been asking others to keep her in their prayers.
• I've been able to visit her twice (so far) in the hospital with my mom.
• I've tried to be there to help support my mom, as well, because this is a difficult situation.

My grandmother is a strong woman, and she's going to be alright. The reality, though, is that "alright" might not look like she or we would like it to. Physically, she can't do a lot of things that she used to and would like to still do. But, she is surrounded by love and support, and we'll work together to adapt however we need to.

This post was written as part of the National Health Blog Posting Month (NHBPM).

Why I Write

I know I haven't really been able to keep up with my blog lately, but I'm still here. We have some things going on with the family that have needed to be high priority. I'm going to try to participate in National Health Blog Posting Month (NHBPM) this month. I've been out of the writing/blogging world for a little while, so I hope I'm able to keep up. I'm not sure whether I'll follow the provided daily blog prompt or just write whatever comes to me, but I'm going to try to get a post in each day in November... I know I'm already starting a day late, so I hope to catch up and get 28-30 posts done this month.

The prompt for November 1st was "why I write about my health." I've written about this topic here and here. I can't really think of more to say on that topic right now, but here's a quote that I absolutely love:

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say" - Anais Nin

This quote means a lot to me because I think that it describes the beauty and power or writing. There are times that I'm able to write things that even I can't say aloud. Writing, for me, is a way to express myself in ways that I may not otherwise be able to. I open up my heart and just let me fingers start typing.

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart" - William Wordsworth

I often surprise myself with what I'm able to express through writing because I go on tangents that need to be explored, but that I may not have been aware of (or had dismissed as unrelated) before. It's almost magical!

This post was written as part of the National Health Blog Posting Month (NHBPM). Other bloggers will share their posts on this FB page.