You have to take the good with the bad...

This weekend was filled with such excitement and heartache all at the same time.

A "friend" (I say "friend" because she's more like family to me) lost her husband on Friday morning. He passed in his sleep, which is a blessing, but it was unexpected. He had played golf on Tuesday and mowed the church lawn on Wednesday. While I wasn't very close to him, I do consider myself close to her. And I know that their marriage was a long, happy marriage, and that she wouldn't want anyone to be upset for her, it is still heartbreaking to hear of someone you care about losing someone they love.

In the midst of the aftermath of his passing, Jim seemed to be getting better. They were lowering his sedation so that they could determine when he would be ready to remove the ventilation tube that was stuck down his throat. They first attempted to do it on Saturday morning, but it didn't work out. He was far too agitated and annoyed by something to remain calm enough for the procedure. After lots of conversations with him, mostly telling him that he had to remain calm for them to do the procedure, and that the doctors were hopeful he would do great without it, they were able to extubate him yesterday! It was such exciting news and even more exciting when I got to the hospital and got to have a conversation with him. He told me he loved me and that he was glad the tube was out. Among a few other things. It was truly a great day.

We now know that Jim has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which is incurable. I'm not sure what the course of action will be going forward, or how long we'll have with him after this. But, I know that he's here for now, and I'm going to cherish every minute of time I get with him. 

So, you have to take the bad and the good. No matter which way they come at you. Life is about mixing them together and it's not going to stop just because we don't like it. The bad is going to keep coming but so will the good. It's about learning to pair those together that matters.