Happily Ever After...

Behind each patient in a bed is a person who has a story. That story varies from pleasant, to adventurous, to sad and every combination in between. I'm the listening ear at the bedside who gets to enter their world (if only for a few hours) and step outside of mine.

While taking vital signs in the Outpatient wing at Virginia Baptist I came in contact with a man in his late 40's who was wheelchair bound due to a left leg amputation. This man was rough, both in his demeanor and speech. Can't say I blame him. Nonetheless I put on a smile and went about my business, ignoring his cynicism. As I prepared to walk out of the room he looked me in the eyes and said "Let me tell you something. I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, and I didn't do drugs. Yet I am the one who ended up in this chair without a leg." Being completely caught off guard and not knowing how to respond I tried to hide my shocked face and quietly said my goodbye as I entered the hallway. Aside from diabetes (the disease that unfortunately took his leg) this man was healthy but he most definitely was not in good spirits. No matter how kind I was the fact that he was very frustrated and angry with his current situation was NOT going to change. His life had not worked out the way he had planned and he most definitely was not going to get the "happily ever after" he wanted...

My roommates and I sat around the other day (ok when I say the other day it can literally mean the other day OR more times than not it means a while ago, anyways moving on...) watching trailers for four movies that will be coming out (or recently have); Valentines Day, Letters to Juliet, The Last Song, and Dear John. Those last two are based on Nicholas Sparks books p.s.. Naturally we got sucked into them because there is a romantic element in each of them and in movies you can ALWAYS count on happy endings.

For that brief hour and half I can escape reality and delve into the lives of these characters who are involved in fabulous relationships. I get to experience the highs and lows right along with them. And in the end everything works out! That's what everyone wants, a story that works out in the end. Unfortunately what we forget is that "chick-flick" movies are fiction. The character's actions and words are scripted. Now I'm not trying to sound like the stepmother from Enchanted when she refers to earth as the place where "happy endings do not exist" but I think especially as girls we get wrapped up in these fictitious men who have everything going for them and are so perfect and that's what we hold real men with imperfections up against. That's why our happy endings never look like the one's in the movies. We're holding them up against an unrealistic standard. I know I have made that mistake; wanting my life to look and feel like one scripted right out of Hollywood. But maybe, just maybe, the happy ending can be found. It may not necessarily be what WE wanted (or what we thought we wanted I should say). Maybe it's what He (God) lays out for us and I'm learning in the end that is much better. 

As nursing students despite the prognosis we are supposed to hope for the best. The reality of life is not everyone gets the happy ending they were hoping for. But God can use all circumstances for His glory. I fully realize it's a lot easier for me to sit here with both my legs and talk about how God can be glorified through my patient's pain and suffering. But my life hasn't been the fairytale I've longed for either. By no means does it compare to having suffered the loss of limb but God has taken me on a roller coaster in the last four years and not everything has been a picnic. There is a "happily ever after" and that's Heaven but until I get there I will just be living life the best way I know how; one step at a time, loving people along the way, and following God whole heartedly.

And now back to my reality which is studying for finals haha!