Friday April 9 – The Meaning of Loss

This morning I experienced a loss and a gain. I lost hot water but I gained the knowledge of how to identify a blown fuse. I know these are small things but it got me thinking about loss.

The last few weeks we have had hot water problems. This morning, I had a cold shower. Yuk. That is when I realized that I took hot water for granted. Cold showers suck.

Previously, I had figured out that the fuse blows. If I replace it I solve the problem until the fuse blows again. This was happening more and more often. Now I have a pile of fuses that I can’t tell if they are good or not. So today I called the repair guy.

He got here within 23 minutes of my phone call! How’s that for service. The box was shorting out and that blew the fuses. Within 30 minutes he had the box fixed and taught me how to tell the difference between good and bad fuses. We had hot water again.

I look at your losses and realize how much I take my body for granted. I have sensory input and abilities that don’t even register on the radar of everyday living. While your losses are profound, they could be worse.

More importantly, when you view your losses from a different way, there are gains. The book I’m reading now, ‘Five People You Meet in Heaven’ highlights this concept. Losses and gains can be the same thing when viewed differently. Perhaps in some obscure way this reveals a small bit of the meaning of life.

On the way home, we visit Mum at the Halifax infirmary. As I busy myself with getting her water and other comforts, the two of you talk. I had to excuse myself to go to the washroom. I could over hear the two of you comparing your hospital experiences and swapping advised of how to make it more tolerable. At one point, I overhear your voice penetrate the bathroom door. “Well, we’re not going to try the vigara anymore, I was getting headaches and my blood pressure went up. The duct tape and tongue depressors didn’t work very well either so I don’t know what we’ll do.” You say with a sigh. I couldn’t hear Mum’s response … thankfully.

Great, Mum never knew when you were serious and when you were kidding before your stroke. Your comic delivery of a line is still very strong … I wonder what she thought.