Fall Season of Miracles Contest - A Year of Trials & Tribulaltions

~ Fall Season of Miracles - A Year of Trials & Tribulations ~

The POSITIVE ATTITUDE for the Weary Soul group gives you the opportunity to share the miracles in your life during this fall season with a creative writing challenge . Join in on the challenge with the  FALL SEASON OF MIRACLES CONTEST | Positive Attitude for the Weary Soul Group

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We cannot skip a season.  We cannot change or repeat a season.  We simply must take each season as it comes, each with the beauty that Mother Nature gives us.  As nature goes through its cycles of life, so do we.  Sometimes it's the happy cycle of life with rebirth and new beginnings, and other times it is the end of the cycle where we experience the end of life or death.  But we also have the promise that there will be a new beginning.  That is why it is the cycle of life.  With every new beginning, what follows is death, but then again life.  We cannot escape this cycle.  We cannot control it.  But we can live it to our fullest extent.

2011 has been a year of trials and tribulations for me.  In March, I lost a good friend six days shy of her 52nd birthday, another good friend's 19 year old son, whom I had known for 12 years and my 92 year old aunt.

While back in Chicago for my aunt's funeral, I helped my dad bandage a "blister" on his back that he was unable to reach.  I pushed him to see a dermatologist about it because it just didn't look normal.  We later learned that my father had melanoma.  And then were told that it had spread to his lymph nodes.  In August when Dad had surgery to remove the melanoma, the surgeon told us the Cancer was as large as a baseball when it was removed, or as the doctor said, "off the charts" as far as stages go.

Recently my mother ended her circle of life.  It was unexpected and devastating.  Although it was in August, two months ago, I am still finding day to day life difficult.  I was back in the Chicago area for a month.  Away from my friends of 20 years, my home and my everyday life, trying to deal with Mom's estate and cope with Mom's passing.  And while there, I was able to spend more time with my father after his surgery.

When I returned back to Denver, I came back to my loving boyfriend and cherished dog, only to find out that Kobi, my pet of 12 years, was very sick.  After a trip to the vet and several blood tests, I was told that Kobi had a disease called Auto Imune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA).  He had dropped 20% of his weight and his amune system is killing off his own red blood cells.

Miracles come in different forms.  I never would have wished for my aunt to pass away, but had my aunt not passed away, I would not have flown back to the Chicago area.  I would not have been able to visit with my mom this one last time before she passed. I would not have been home to push my dad to consult a doctor about the, as Dad called it, "blister" on his back.   Had I not of been away from my home due to all this, I may have overlooked Kobi's symptoms and it would have been too late to get him treatment. 

God works in mysterious ways.  I believe that He has a plan for us.  While we are going through our difficult moments, the moments are just pieces.  And the pieces are just that, individual pieces.  We just don't see the big picture until we can put all of the pieces together.  And then we see that there was a reason.  A reason for each and every piece.  Those pieces, while going through them can be quite painful, can actually be a blessing.

The miracle I was given, was to be able to spend some time with my mother before she passed away.  I was given the opportunity to discover the "blister" on  Dad's back and encourage him to see a dermatologist, which allowed for the Cancer to be removed.  I was given the clear vision to see that my loving pet was suffering from a life threatening disease and to get him the treatment he needed in a timely matter.

Although I would not want to relive this year again.  I am thankful that the course of events, no matter how sad, allowed me some opportunities that I may have missed, if just one event had changed.