Wednesday 12 February 2014

Taken For Granted

I imagine that most of us take things for granted.  I know that I do.  And sometimes circumstances give us cause to think about that. 

Until recently husband and I have said that we know just how lucky we are to be in such good health, given that we are 72 and 69 respectively.  Many of our friends are not so fortunate and are having to undergo treatments and operations and to take all sorts of medication to get by.  We have had to do none of this.  Only the odd headache pill or indigestion tablet and our annual 'flu jab.  Until recently.  Bob was lucky that his heart attack actually occurred whilst he was in the care of the medics in the ambulance.  So now he is on prescribed medication to keep him fit and well and will have to undergo an MRI scan in a few weeks to determine what further treatment may be necessary. 

Yes, we did sort of take our good health very much for granted.  Last autumn some friends suggested that we go on holiday with them in March and we all agreed on 2 weeks in Lanzarote, the holiday was booked and the balance paid just before Christmas.  As we are hoping to go to New Zealand to see step daughter and family for Christmas 2014 we decided to wait until nearer our March holiday to take out travel insurance.  Why not, we are fit and healthy, or so we thought.  Then husband, completely out of the blue, had a heart attack.  His heart specialist has said he feels that we should not go because it is in such close proximity to the MRI scan.  So we have had to cancel our holiday and, naturally, although we have had some money back from the travel agent we did not have travel insurance and have lost about half our money!  A timely lesson. 

A few days ago, as we were sat having lunch, stepson turned up with a large bouquet of flowers for me.

What's this?  It is not my birthday and Mother's Day is a few weeks away yet (March 30 in UK).  They were to say thank you for looking after his Dad so well since his heart attack.  Obviously I thanked him very much and said how much I appreciated the thought.  "Well" he said, "everyone is fussing around Dad and no-one has asked you how you are".  

Not completely accurate but at least he hadn't taken me for granted!

8 comments:

Hildred said...

So often the way, - I had assumed my husband would live to be at least as old as his father (102) and his sudden death was a terrible shock to me, but left me grateful for the many wonderful years we had together. Today he would have been 90. I wish good health for both you and your husband and a wonderful holiday in N.Z. with your family, Ann.

Jay said...

What a lovely stepson you have! How sweet of him to do that.

I suppose it's sensible not to go to Lanzarote - it's one of the places I quite fancied seeing, but haven't done so yet. Maybe next year? I'm sure you'll have a GREAT time in NZ though. It's such a wonderful country.

Many good wishes to you and your husband. Health scares are just that: scary. Anything to do with the heart just seems to make us feel that much more fragile, but there is so much that they can do these days. I wish him all the best, and you too!

Sandi McBride said...

Gosh, I'd almost drop the Step part of that...I think you could consider him a son...
Hope Hubby is doing well and taking care of himself! You must take care of you too!
hugs
Sandi

Linda said...

Sad but very true. Thank you so much for sharing and warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

SquirrelQueen said...

Oh that was so sweet of your stepson to think of you like that. Good health is so important. Like you I see many of my friends spending time in doctors' offices and the hospital and it makes me feel so lucky to be healthy.

DeniseinVA said...

So glad your hubby got through his health attack okay. It is human nature to take things for granted and that's why we try to count our blessings each and every day, as like you a lot of our family and friends have had major health issues. Wishing you both each and every day full of good health and happiness Anne, and it is so good to see you posting again. What a lovely gift your stepson gave you, not just the flowers which was wonderful in itself, but also one of recognition :)

Maggie May said...

Sorry about the holiday. It can be difficult to travel sometimes, as we have found from our own experience.
It must have been lovely to receive those flowers so unexpectedly. What a lovely thought.
Maggie x

Nuts in May

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

What a wonderful gesture of your step son. It takes a shock like that to put things back into to perspective doesn't it?