It is now August! We've been out of the loop for a while... getting ready for my surgery, dealing with my surgery, and surviving through my recovery.
I'll share more details about the surgery on our family blog, but what I'd like to say here, on this blog about our marriage, is that I am blessed with a wonderfully caring husband.
In short, there was a complication in my surgery that, in a matter of moments, took my recovery from one level of neediness to quite another.
Tom is my rock. He keeps me grounded, focused, and calm when chaos ensues.
He never showed anxiety through this whole ordeal. A lot of that is just his natural personality and the result of being raised in strong faith and not fear. However, even in times when things have unnerved him, he just stays peaceful under pressure with me. It's such a gift to a wife who has struggled with anxiety for so long.
There were moments during this surgery season when my body was literally quaking and my mind felt like a fog had set in for the duration! I felt confused and weak, overwhelmed and exhausted.
And no matter what, there he would be...my husband, ever present in my time of need.
He would speak. He would gently touch me. He would pray over me. He would bring my focus back and calm me down, reassuring me that everything would be okay...that I would be okay and that I was not alone.
A complete hysterectomy with the complication of an accidently severed ureter has been a humbling and hard experience. To have someone so resolute and compassionate by my side made this whole thing much easier to endure.
My husband has served me in every way imaginable in a recovery, and he has done so with a joyful heart. Even when I was snippy with my tongue from pain or melting down in tears through a hormonal sweat, Tom has been nothing but loving and patient.
He has bathed me, fed me, massaged my aching body, changed me, emptied a catheter bag...he has "washed my feet."
I have thanked him many times. His response: "I'm just trying to do what I believe you would do for me. "
And I would do all those things for him. That's what makes our marriage what it is. There's nothing magical about it. There's nothing we do that others cannot. We simply choose to lay down our life for our friend. Greater love has no one than that.
I rejoice that we have learned this lesson because it sure makes weathering life's storms much easier!
Thank you my love.
I treasure you.
