One of my secret superpowers is the ability to sit and do nothing. This superpower was developed through years and years of sitting in mass with my parents each weekend. It was further strengthened during all those special masses we attended during my years at St. Joseph's Elementary in Texas, Maryland.
More growth occurred after my dad had his first heart attack in his late 30s. Such training made it much easier to sit in a hospital waiting room for 8 hours while he had his second open heart surgery twenty years later.
Over the years I've spent countless hours in hospital waiting rooms in support of others. There were knee surgeries, hip surgeries, cancer surgeries and so much more. Technology has made things even easier. Just last month I sat with my mom while she waited to be admitted to a nearby hospital. She was sleeping and I watched a movie on Netflix, graded papers, and texted my siblings with the latest updates.
My 89-year-old mom is back in the hospital, nothing dire, just some stuff to take care of, and I will sit with her again. If she's feeling up to it, we can play a few rounds of rummy. If not, I never did finish that movie I started last month.
You're definitely right about technology-- there's really no such thing as sitting around doing nothing anymore. I hope everything goes well for your mom!
ReplyDeleteYou have made the most of waiting time - a skill not so many have these days. Great descriptions of the process of learning to wait in this post!
ReplyDeleteYou're not really doing nothing when you wait for others. It demands an energy all its own. (And you graded papers and watched a movie, not to mention keeping everyone else's worries at bay, because you were there!)
ReplyDeleteAs they say, patience is a virtue. Waiting/sitting in stillness is a lost art. Maybe I should go back to mass and practice.
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