2020 will be a year for the record books, and a year history will pore over for decades to come. From the pandemic to impeachment to election, Americans have lurched from one crisis to another.
But for me, this past year was one that also was unprecedented for me and my family, and from the 12 months that comprise that year I found that, in spite of my advanced years, lessons were learned. To use a hackneyed phrase, you (I) can be taught ‘new tricks’, as any old dog can learn.
This will be more personal than the usual type of post I write; please allow this aberration. Lessons learned will be brief, but many. Some of them just show how slow a learner I have been over my almost 8 decades on the planet.
- I am not invincible. I have enjoyed very good health, and from age 20 to age 75 I had no serious hospital stays nor procedures. Other than the scourge of late life, adult-onset diabetes, failed hearing and just the usual aches and pains of old age, things have gone well. Not so in 2020. My sole surviving kidney gave out and by dint of skilled health pros and prayer, I survived. Like most people, I am not invincible.
- In addition, I, like all other humans, am not irreplaceable. Of course, family would miss me, but that is a given. From 1970 to 2020 I served as minister/preacher/pastor to a small church west of Paris. By the time of the end of my tenure (50 years as of last August), I had gotten the idea that if I wasn’t there, the church would go under. That did not happen; the church is still going, even though in my last 7 months there someone else preached for me and took care of the congregation much of the time. A humbling experience, but one that was needed came my way.
- Sports, which has been a passion of mine (especially baseball) was not so important in 2020 as they had been before. It did not matter if the Cardinals didn’t play until July, nor was it a bitter disappoint to me when they did not do well in the playoffs. And the Chiefs were not even on my radar until the Super Bowl. We don’t need sports to survive life!
- Family is so important. During my hospital stay, and immediately afterward, my family rallied around me. They gave Jane (wife) and Missy (daughter) invaluable help. They did for them what I could not do. Family has always been important to me, but they were so much more than I thought before the illness hit.
- I learned that hospital staff — doctors, nurses, aides, technicians — took care of me as if I were the most important patient they had. At least seven doctors looked over this frail body, countless nurses and aides and two very good dialysis techs kept me going. No matter what some might say about our health care system, Union Hospital’s staff in Terre Haute gave me the best care in the world.
- It seems that after preaching for almost 60 years, some of what I preached rubbed off on me. My faith was stronger than I had ever thought, and I found that prayer does work miracles. After the crisis had passed, I learned how close I came to “shuffling off this mortal coil.” But people had been praying for me; people on three continents, in countless states, and, former colleagues, even former enemies had entreated on my behalf. My lease on life was so tenuous that divine help was needed, and those prayers were answered.
- Added to that lesson was the fact that death held no fear for me. If that was my lot on January 16, 2020, so be it. I have had a good life, and 77 years was sufficient. Actually, I think I did die that day — but that is a story for another time.
- Vicariously I learned the value of true friendship. When I was admitted to the ER, family was in school or at work. Jane was with me, but no one was there for her. But when she called her best friend who lived in Terre Haute, she came to be with Jane immediately. For the rest of my enforced stay in the hospital, this friend was there when needed, provided a place to stay and a shoulder to lean on. Cherish your true friends!
- I saw true love in action. When we marry, we pledge our lives to each other, and the most constant person for me was Jane. Words are not sufficient to express what she did for me, but without her the year would have been hard to get through. After I came home, all I needed was provided, and since recovery is well under way, I do miss being able to have instant help. Seems if I am able to do something now, I am expected to do it myself!
Why was I spared when this poor body was about to give out? I don’t know; perhaps it was to teach me lessons I should have learned long ago. Maybe someday an answer will come that will show me that I still have a purpose in life. But until then, the lessons of adversity will suffice. I learned a lot in 2020 that a classroom could not teach. This old dog can still learn.