Three weeks ago, I woke up disappointed to see 7:45 a.m. on my watch. I was scheduled for surgery that day with a noon arrival to the hospital, the next step to achieve another dazzling check mark on my breast cancer treatment plan. My disappointment that morning came from the inhumane request to not eat or drink after midnight. Being thirty-five and the mom of two early-risers, 7:45 a.m. was the best I could do to sleep the morning away so I didn’t have to experience half-a-day of no coffee or food. The horror.
Hours later, Nathan and I found ourselves at the hospital pre-op room, still awaiting the anesthesia that would at least take the consciousness out of my hellish waiting game for a Beyond burger and fries. Not to mention, of course, the arrival of pathology results and general anxiety about surgery.
True to form, the next thing I knew Nathan had me wrapped up in some mind-puzzle game that had me in tears laughing instead of snipping at him for chewing gum so close to my hospital bed. He cleverly took my mind off of my discomfort and anxiety, pivoting so effortlessly towards joy and fun.
This moment was fresh on my mind last week when the boys and I reread Mo Willems’ Waiting Is Not Easy!, a favorite of ours from the Piggie and Gerald series. In this award-winning classic, Piggie sends Gerald the elephant into a near-meltdown waiting for a surprise, which turns out to be the brilliant, Milky Way-decorated, starry night sky. Gerald is so pleased with his surprise, he coyly starts Piggie down a similar waiting game for the sunrise.
My surgery morning was one of many episodes in the current season of excruciating waiting. But Piggie and Gerald (and Nathan) reminded me that, really, I’m always waiting for something. Whether it be the surprise of a starry night sky or the relief from a painful diagnosis, there is always something I’m preparing my body and mind to experience. The moments I’ve been waiting for come and go quickly but, if I pivot well, I will find the real living happens while I'm waiting with the people I love.
#mowillems
