Everyone has heard the old saying “It can happen in the blink of an eye.”.  Yes time and time again this is proven correct.  I have 5 “In the blink of an eye” moments I would like to share with you.  Like the time I was an average high school junior worrying about what I was going to wear to school the next day.  Then suddenly taking a call in the middle of the night with the news of my boyfriend has passed away in a motorcycle accident.  Things changed from that moment on.  I grew up faster, and have forever changed.  Some changes for the good and some that have crippled me.   Yes you can move on, but you never forget.  I would say that was my true understanding of “In the blink of an eye”.

Second “In the blink of an eye”, was getting engaged and then married.  The lifelong dreams and vision of the prefect wedding day starts so young.  As a little girl playing with Barbies and playing house there always seemed to be a wedding.  This just set the bar for the big day.   All the planning and stressing over “The Big” day and before you know it, yep you guessed it “In the blink of an eye” it’s over.  Then you just pray and hope that your photographer captured all the right moments.  Because you were pulled into so many directions trying to visit with all your guests.

As you can see from my first few “In the blink of an eye” moments they can can be completely different emotions.  As we age these moments and emotions help us grow.  We become wiser, more compassionate, and more understanding.  All of these are good things, but that isn’t always the case.  With them we can also become guarded, hurt, scared, and cautious.  Again this is how we grow as a person.  Taking 5 steps forward and 10 back is just how the game is suppose to be played some times.

My third “In the blink of an eye” happened in 2009 when we became parents.  Most of the time you have 9 months to plan.  Well in our case we tried and tried for years, and then in 3 months we were told our little girl would be joining our family and lives through adoption.  We never in a million years thought the process would happen so quickly.  But it did for a reason. God knew my patients of becoming a mom were growing thin. So just like that my dreams of being a mom were met “In the blink of an eye”.

My fourth “In the blink of an eye”, yep you guessed it!  Getting Miss Libby’s  diagnosis of Schizencephaly, Cerebral Palsy, Microcephalus, Disorder of Macula of Retina, Abesence of Septum Pellucidum, and Agenesis of Corpus Callosum just to name a few.  My vision of a happy “perfect” family just went out the door.  Just like that my life changed and to this day it’s a struggle to realize that this is my life.  You know me and have read my post.  You know that I am strong and positive most days, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Senator Heidi Heitkamp said it best, “We are all one hour, minute,or second away from a completely life changing event.”   I don’t mean to scare anyone, but we all need to open our eyes an realize life is short and “In the blink of an eye” it can all be changed.  Don’t take the good things for granted, be humble and live a life full of GRACE!

I bet you are thinking what could possibly be her fifth “In the blink of an eye’?  Well honestly it hasn’t happened yet and I hope if doesn’t happen for a REALLY REALLY long time.  This hasn’t stopped me from preparing for it though.  “In the blink of an eye” something could happen to me.  This thought has created some major anxiety for me the past month.  I recently went on vacation for 3 days.  All in all things went just fine.  There was a little mishap with Libby’s medication since the addition of a new third medication this month. So of coarse I was upset, but I realize even I could make the mistake, but this wouldn’t probably of been caught if I wasn’t around.  HOLY CRAP!  I can never go anywhere again. Another major realization is that no one knows Miss Libby like I do. Yes, some people might be able to take care of her for a couple hours maybe even a couple days.  But do they know when her next appointment with “ALL” of her doctors are? Do they even know all the doctors she has? Do they know her case manager’s name?  Do they know her signs of discomfort like I do?  Do they know the mix and reasoning for all the essential oils I use on her?  Do they know what oils to diffuse for her and which ones can not be used around her?  These are just a few of the thoughts keeping me from peace.

As you can see these thoughts are scary to even think about. But I am taking the steps to somewhat put that part of my mind at ease.  Just because things are difficult with Libby, doesn’t mean I have to stop living my life.  I will go on vacation and when that day comes that I am gone…. I will go in peace knowing Miss Libby will be okay, she will have a team of trained people to take care of her!

We have “In the blink of an eye” moments everyday! Rejoice that you have grown and that you are giving the opportunity to have another!