In one hour and seven minutes I will have lived on this planet for sixty-four years. When I was born I had severe allergy asthma, and very little immune system. I was in and out of the hospital often. There was no treatment for asthma but to give oxygen and pray the attack would stop. I remember at about the age of three or four being in an oxygen tent. The doctor was speaking to a group of interns nearby. I'm sure he thought that I couldn't hear him over the sound of the oxygen. My ears were still pretty sharp then. I heard him say, "This child will not live very long. She is too severely allergic and sensitive."
Lying there I thought to myself, "HAH! I'll show you Dr.!" I HAVE, I've shown that doctor and then some. Of course, the credit for keeping me alive long enough to reach some marvelous medical discoveries goes to my patient self-sacrificing parents. They did everything in their power to keep me alive. My attacks often started in the middle of the night, which meant one or both of my parents didn't get much sleep. Mama started doing research and off we went to herbologists, naturopaths, chiropractors, nutrinists, and more. Obviously something worked.
Then I began to see a new Dr. He was a family practice doctor and he changed my life forever. When he discovered my dismal past medical history he didn't just push a pill at me and tell me to come back in six weeks. No, he got busy and did intensive research about the newest medical developments for my condition. He got me involved in a medical trial. I began to use a medication that helped to desensitize my bronchials. It didn't cure me, but it lessened by hospital stays a great deal. As my asthma lessened, I was able to strengthen my immune system.
I went to college, performed in summerstock theater, served an LDS mission, sang, danced, and acted in many productions. I met the man of my dreams and we created family together. He got his undergrad degree, and then his J.D. We performed together with great joy.
Now? Now even though the pandemic has swept away most of the outside activity in my life, I am still filled with enthusiasm for the inside activity. I sew, write, knit, do genealogy work, dance, sing, and sometimes play the piano. I've watched fascinating documentaries that have increased my knowledge, and I'm currently taking an online Spanish class.
One of my friends once told me (she was in her 80s at the time), you are only as old as your oldest cell. Your body produces new cells every 5 seconds. I have not verified the science of this with SNOPES but I like her vision. In her nineties she needed to move into assisted living. The last I heard, she was teaching aerobics there.
Even if my body keeps getting older, and my health issues continue to pile up, I'm going to do my best to find joy. There will always be something that I can do...even if it is lying in bed praying for those I love. I AM praying right now. I'm praying for this pandemic to stop. I'm praying for a useful vaccine to be created. I'm praying for a world where black lives DO matter, and we do NOT go around judging each other harshly. I've seen a great deal of history in sixty-four years of living. I want to see some more. I wish to see our children make our earth safer, healthier, and much more loving.
I'm happy that I've lived to reach my sixty-fourth birthday. I'm blowing that doomsayer doctor a raspberry. I imagine that he has passed on long since...and I'm still here...and still doing my best everyday. (OK....I do not wish that doctor harm. I just want him to see that I proved him wrong?)
Happy birthday to me!
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