2017 was one heck of a year and not always for good reasons. As if turning 40 right before it started wasn’t enough, 2017 threw a lot of curve balls our way. The year started with the flu and soon we received news about my mother’s heart. A cardiac procedure gave us the news we had been hoping to avoid for over 15 years. Mom needed open heart surgery , including an aortic valve replacement.
On February 3, we heard it was a must and briefly met a surgeon. Twenty days later we spent most of the day waiting for news on my mother. It was a long day and to be honest,much of February and March are a blur. I have wanted to write about it for months now, but had to keep up with living life.
February 23 was the day my mother was given a new life. Her heart is now beating strong thanks to a cow valve in her chest. Those days challenged all of us. I spent a lot of time with my parents while my mother was in the hospital and recovering at home. I saw their love take on new meaning. I watched my father fight the doctors to help her when she was in pain. While she slept, I walked around with my father a lot. I got to know him in a way I never had before.