Life's little setbacks are often called "bumps in the road." Sometimes bumps happen because of our own poor decisions--decisions that seemed right in the moment but look disastrous when viewed through the rear view mirror. Sometimes other people cause bad things to happen, crashing into our lives and often making us feel out of control and resentful.
And then there are the bad things that you can't blame on any one person or thing. Through no fault of your own, sometimes bad things just happen. Period. End of Paragraph.
I have a wonderful friend who is my writing partner. We take turns suggesting topics and it is interesting how we each interpret the subject matter. His most recent essay focused on a friend dealing with cancer, and how he, as a friend, could best respond.
Keith, this is my rebuttal.
I have had my share of grief, and experienced many disappointments. But all in all, I have lived a charmed life. So I guess it's my turn for bumps now.
My family had begun to notice a drop in my mental acuity: repeating myself, asking questions several times, not retaining information. It was nothing that concerned me, although I had noticed that I was forgetting things more often and relied more on writing things down. Everyone forgets things occasionally, right? Everyone walks into a room sometimes, and can't remember why.
I likewise consoled myself that we have had a lot on our plates lately: moving to an apartment after selling our home of 18 years, burning up the interstate almost every weekend working on our cabin or to visit our daughter in Ga. We have also been dealing with aging mothers on both sides of the family. But under the direction of my GP I went to a neuropsychologist for a 5-hour memory test.
I scored well on all parts of the test except recall. Information that had been given to me a few minutes earlier was difficult to retrieve. That same information was completely gone after 30 minutes.
I could make excuses: it was freezing cold in the room, the examiner read the questions too quickly, I couldn't write anything down, the instructions were not clearly explained to me. I could tell you the test was unnecessarily difficult. But of course, all those excuses are just that--excuses--and precisely why I was there.
I am fairly young for a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, but that's what I got. Yea me. I'm ahead of the curve. But hopefully not barreling down the road so fast that I lose control.
The examiner noted that I have a high I.Q. and I guess that was supposed to make me feel better, as if understanding the reality of it all was a good thing. He told me there are things I can do to help stave off the progression. We've always been healthy eaters, and I have always exercised. We have never been heavy drinkers (until the diagnosis....if anything would make me throw a straw in a bottle of cabernet it's this, but of course, now I've practically given it up entirely.)
The doctor suggested I interact with people (umm, excuse me, I am an INTROVERT. People scare me.) He said I should look for ways to engage my brain, such as reading and problem-solving. I could also do memory exercises (I would give you some examples of that but I've forgotten them. Sorry. Bad joke.)
So this ugly diagnosis is a wake-up call for me and I'm hoping for you as well. Life is short, and capricious, and if there is a takeaway, it surely must be that we should prepare ourselves for the inevitable bumps and curves life throws us, and be ready to deal with them.
I have a friend who has macular degeneration and is now completely sightless. And yet, she still skis. She has certainly been a role model for dealing with bumpy roads. She has three handsome boys, one of which she has never seen. She is a respected and sought-after Christian speaker. She has also battled cancer for years, and she has the best attitude of anyone I know. When I'm in her presence, I actually forget how many bumps in the road she has met and overcome. She does not let bumps define her. For Alex, that means fighting it by leaning hard into God's loving arms, and trusting family and friends to help. Alex is my driver's manual for bumps in the road.
I urge you who are reading this to make the same commitment. We have a few choices when we encounter these inevitable obstacles on our individual roads in life: we can take the long way around and tell ourselves that the bumps won't find us, or we can meet them head-on with faith and the courage that comes from it. As for me and my car, I'll trust my the co-pilot. There's no bump that surprises Him, and no curve He can't handle.
