November 20, 2017. Madison, Mississippi. Adversity.

I will not bore anyone with my list of events that were not to my liking.  But surely, my list is longer than the average bear.  I count 12 situations that caused me difficulty.  Even I was surprised. at it's number.  The most important fact is that both Ken and I survived.  And I have been able to help others through difficult times so every difficulty came with an upside.

My system of dealing with adversity has not changed over the years.  I will use the second incident as an example.  Ken graduated from medical school in 1963.  He was to intern at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto.  One the first day of his internship, he asked his room mate to listen to his chest.   He was seen by the specialist.  He was to be admitted immediately to the hospital but first he came home to get me.

When my  Mother and I returned from a wedding, Ken was at our apartment.  I was to take him to the hospital to get him admitted for observation.  Ken had major surgery and was in the hospital for 3 weeks, followed by 6 weeks recovery at home.  I was teaching folk dance for the summer so every day I stopped by the hospital after work and stayed until bedtime.  Ken was uncomfortable in the hospital and even more so at home.   We battled on.  But it was not an easy time.

My solution was to deal with Ken's illness only when there was something I could do to be helpful.  The rest of the time I kept my focus on my task at hand.  I did not allow Ken's dire situation to overtake my life.  I did everything I could to be helpful but when there was nothing I could do, I turned to other activities.   This required discipline.  But it worked.  Tomorrow I will tell of the benefits accrued from that surgery and recovery.