Perspective

Sometimes when life is getting just a little too overwhelming, I feel like I am blessed with a little perspective. Like yesterday, for example, I was taking Dallin to the pediatrician for his 5 year check up. I was feeling sorry for myself because I had to take Abby with me (I have to take her everywhere because she refuses to take a bottle so she is my little partner 24 hours a day. It gets exhausting). We stepped out of the elevator and there was a girl waiting there with 5 month old triplets! Wow. Abby times 3. I really honestly don't think I could do it. I was like, well, maybe my life isn't so hard. I mean, I know I would love my babies, but really. Triplets! 3 car seats strapped on one ginormous stroller... I am very grateful that my three children are different ages. Then today we took Abby up to Primary Children's for her appointment with the pediatric opthamologist (Her eyes aren't exactly on the same page most of the time. She's my little cross-eyed girl. I'm a little sensitive about it, so please don't make fun). The whole ordeal was kind of a production and when we finally got in to see the doctor he talked to us for a few minutes and then said he had to dilate her eyes and we'd need to go back out to the waiting room for at least 25 minutes before he could continue the exam. Grrrr! So I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.... why does my baby have to have crossed eyes, why do we have to spend the whole afternoon here, why why? But I decided that this might be a good time to take Abby for a walk and try to find my cousin. Her little boy has been at Primary Children's for a month because he's been having major seizures and they can't figure out why. I had the room number so I thought, I'll just wander around and if I find the room I'll stop in for a second and say hi. If you've never been there before, that hospital is crazy. I just started walking and somehow ended up on the other end of the hospital and I kept thinking, am I allowed to be here? This is nuts! I was walking through all kind of crazy places that I thought for sure only authorized people would be able to go. But somehow I ended up right where I needed to be and found the room with no trouble at all. And wow. That little boy was about the sweetest little thing I have ever seen, lying there so still with about a million tubes and wires hooked up to him. My cousin was the only one in the room with him, and I got to talk to her and give her a hug and get just a small taste of what she has been going through this last month. Oh, how my heart aches for her and her precious little boy! Suddenly, my little crossed-eyed girl didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. As I walked back through the labyrinth of hallways to the eye doctor's office I almost felt numb, I was so overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. We waited a little longer, and then went back in and met with the doctor. The news was not what I had been hoping to hear: she needs to have surgery on both eyes. But somehow it doesn't seem so bad in light of other things. It's fixable. She doesn't even have to stay in the hospital overnight. She's perfectly fine otherwise, and I get to take her home and love her and not worry about what happens next. I feel so incredibly blessed! We'll take her back for one more appointment in April, she'll have the surgery in May, and then hopefully she'll start seeing with both eyes at the same time. In the meantime, my prayers are with my amazingly brave cousin Laura and her sweet little Samuel.