For the first time since January 21st, I was able to tie a bow on my sweatpants. As you might imagine, it brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t something I worked on all the time, I just tried it every once in a while, being perfectly willing to not be able to do it if that ended up being the case.
Since my stroke, I’ve learned to celebrate little victories like this.
Of course, there are also the setbacks. This morning I fell and bruised a couple of ribs. Not necessarily bad, but it’s always frightening. It’s only happened a few times.
These are the highs and lows of recovery. The endless waiting for records to be transferred to insurance companies, people not calling you back. Doing a little thing you couldn’t do yesterday. It’s all part of the soup. It’s all part of the mix of life.
It’s never exactly like you imagined. Sometimes it’s better– sometimes it’s worse.
I just saw an article by the women who played Abby on NCIS. She had a stroke this year. And her major announcement was very simply, “I’m still here.”
I could queue up the song “I’m still standing” in my head. But some days I don’t feel like that and I just lay back down, only to realize later that it was the best thing I could have done.
When I was doing my lap at the track today, a person tried to speak to me and be encouraging. I appreciate when people do that, but she got tongue tied because she didn’t really know what to say.
So don’t worry about what to say to me, just be one of the people that are present in my life and that alone will be enough.
Be where you are,
Be who you are,
Karl Forehand
Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart and The Tea Shop. He is the creator of The Desert Sanctuary podcast. He is married to his wife Laura of 32 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply
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