The other day I was sitting in my room loathing and thinking about all my problems I have to take care of, including all the schoolwork I have to catch up on, finding a job for the summer, paying for repairs on my car after an accident, helping my mom and losing the weight I put on this year. Of course thinking about all of this would only work against me in accomplishing anything, so I decided to put it in the back of my head and get busy.
An hour later, I had gotten a good amount of work done when the phone rang. On the other end was my cousin’s ex-wife, Lisa, whom I have managed to stay close to throughout all that has happened. She was asking me how everything was and I started telling her how stressed I was lately. Of course, she reassured me that I would be fine. Everything would be fine. After hanging up the phone, a half an hour later, I realized just how ridiculous I have been, especially talking to her.
I was complaining to her about things that were either of my own doing, or things that just happen to people. People get in accidents, they get cancer, they gain weight and they procrastinate. All of these were things that she had gone through as well. In fact, these things she could relate to were the very least of her troubles. My freshman year, I had to give a speech about my hero in my public speaking class. There is more than one reason the person I spoke about was her.
When Lisa was sixteen years old, she was very overweight. She then decided to get her life in order and be healthy and get organized. She managed to lose over 100 pounds. Her whole life changed. She was happy, had a great job and met the love of her life, my cousin. They were the picture-perfect couple. They were successful, good-looking, popular and happy. In fact, my cousin was that one particular success story of the family. The ironic part is that we all now realize it was because of Lisa.
Lisa is one of those people who makes everything beautiful and makes everyone feel special. She and my cousin were ready to start a family when something happened that would change her life forever. One day at work, a metal piece of an examining table fell and hit her in the knee, damaging nerves. Since then, she has barely been able to move and is in intense chronic pain. Wires have been placed in her body so she is able to control the pain with a battery operated remote. Her dreams of children vanished in just a split second. Not being able to move, she was obviously not able to stay the fit and trim woman who ran marathons. She gained the weight back, and of course, my cousin had to leave her. This was six years ago, and she is still suffering. She is in every kind of pain imaginable. Some dreams she has and will never be met.
Thinking about what Lisa has gone through made me think just how lucky I have been. Her story reminds me how things could be much worse, but it also proves how life can be so unfair. It is unfair when the most loving, caring people are the ones left in the dust.
Posted to the web by Shane Evans
