Revisiting Old Memories

I'm sitting in the O. R. family waiting room in a Chicago hospital waiting to hear news that my daughter, who is having back surgery, is out of the operating room and in the recovery room. From the moment we entered the front door of the hospital, my mind has been flooded with memories of Art and all the hospital and doctor's office waiting rooms I spent time in—sometimes with Art and sometimes by myself—during our year-long journey, first to find out what was wrong with him, and then, as he underwent surgeries, chemotherapy, blood transfusions… I'm in a different hospital, in a different city, in a different state, and the situation is not life threatening, but the feelings of anticipation and worry, and the silent prayer that everything will be okay, are the same. It's funny how the body remembers and reacts even when we try to distract ourselves.