Script Synopsis: “The Angel of Death visits a mental hospital to collect someone on his list, he accidentally reveals himself to the wrong person. After struggling to convince the patients of his identity, Death attempts to correct his potentially fatal mistake and demands to know which one of them is actually the one he came for. But the patients refuse to give up their friend’s true identity, even after Death insists that if he doesn’t perform the touch of death within the allotted time, the consequences could be disastrous. Death must resort to drastic measures and even joins the group sessions in order to win this deadly battle of wits.” – Cheating Death by Kamron Klitgaard
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Trying to cheat death did have its fun moments. The 7th floor was a community. We laughed, cried, celebrated and made plans together. We were family. There may have been one angel of death lurking about, but I had an army of angels surrounding me with faith, light and laughter. I have found that every day is a good day, or as Winnie the Pooh would say, every day is my favorite day. Learning to be present is a tremendous thing! Letting go of past hurts and disappointments and also letting go of worries for the future. Today is what counts.
My children learned that coming to the 7th floor wasn’t quite so scary once there was a routine. My nurses took the time to show my children around and even go on their own adventures. They gave them the code to the special nurses kitchen that housed the treats. Victoria and Matthew could go in there any time and get a Popsicle for themselves or for me. They loved doing this!
Victoria would go on a big adventure every time she visited. One of my nurses would ask Victoria to accompany her to the blood bank to pick up the blood I needed that day. This was a big job and one Victoria looked forward to doing.
The nurses gave my children the gift of service. I see the fruits of that to this day.
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My neighbor on the 7th floor was Chris. He was also in protective isolation. We were neighbors for 6 weeks. He was in the first room right off of the elevator and I was in the second. We only saw each other a couple of times but we communicated several times a week. The nurses had given him a putting green for his room and if I heard him up practicing 🏌️ I would knock on the wall and we would talk through there. We laughed and cried. Sometimes we were just there with no words.
Chris gave me the gift of empathy and compassion regardless of circumstances.
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Chris and I shared the same birthday week. Our nurses surprised us with a party. They filled the waiting room with family, cake and gifts. After they said “surprise” we looked around and saw that everyone had their sterile gab on. We were able to be in a different room without a mask! It was the first time I had been out of my room with no mask on. It was beyond wonderful. We all laughed, ate cake and spent 30 minutes of true joy together.
The nurses gave me the gift of celebration.
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My Rock started an online blog to keep our family and friends updated. He would sit beside me and write. We would laugh over how to phrase things because I had developed a rather warped sense of humor. Ok, I already had that but it got warpier. 😂 I mean, how does one say that their nickname with the Infectious Disease Department is “Bread-maker” because yeast was running amuck throughout my body. We found it hysterical.
Dennis gave me the gift of laughter at a time when I needed it most.
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I love music. Music has always played a significant part in my life: piano, flute, piccolo and voice. Music speaks to me. But I lost a lot of that in the hospital. Enter my Priest, aka my brother. He drove 3 hours every Wednesday to watch American Idol with me. We laughed. We cheered on our favorites. We escaped life.
Dave gave me the gift of music.
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So many more stories. Life may have looked bleak but there were so many moments of light, love, laughter and faith. Looking back it’s easy to pick out different days and give them a name: good day, bad day, etc. But in the moment each day was what it was: a day.
This journey taught me that the day I’m in is my favorite day because it is as precious, if not more, than the past or the future. Right now is a gift even if I have to look for the good.
Today is my favorite day.
The Time that is Given 