Learning what it means to be a Friend for Life.

Sometimes life has a way of throwing us curve balls. Things happen that we don't expect and it takes the will of a thousand prayers to keep us walking upright.

Last week I was taken to the edge of my will. I pushed the envelope so hard I almost lost my ability to think in the process. Worry has a funny way of making you feel vulnerable and alone. Its easy to shut out the rest of the world and wallow in our own cave of misery.

I tried to do that on Saturday at the Friends For Life Conference.

I failed.

But first, a little back story...

We left for the Children With Diabetes Friends for Life Conference on Tuesday evening. We got to our flight no problems and settled into our seats excitedly. Well, most of us did. J sat there pale and shivering.

Was I expecting my 14 year old to have a wicked case of the chills as our plane took off? Was I expecting to stay up all night with him as the Advil wouldn't quell the heat of his fever? Did I expect to turn to Jeff Hitchcock for help to find an urgent care facility and then wait at the said urgent care facility for 5 hours to finally see a doctor for strep?

No.  Wasn't expecting that at all.

Did I expect to see lovely faces from the interwebz and hug them tight?

Yes, absolutely.

Did I expect they would encircle me with the love and friendship that they did?

To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting. But what I do know is the sincere kindness and love we were shown went far beyond casual Internet connections. It was more of a family reunion with people that don't know what it means to be artificial. They are real in more than just a tangible sense. They are everything they pour out onto their blogs, they are all the support they post on Facebook, they are every bit as fun and funny as they are in the twitter-verse.

Corny-ly enough, they are friends for life.

Did I expect to take Ryan to the emergency room in Florida?

Seriously, I didn't expect it...but I secretly feared it. 8 hours of waiting just to hear the doctor tell us his cancer has spread to one of his adrenal glands. The severe pain he was experiencing in his back came from a tumor that had bled, as melanoma tumors like to do...

And as word spread of our situation, people jumped at the chance to help. People from the DOC that I know and love...and strangers....STRANGERS who didn't know me.  They came out of the woodwork to drive us to hospitals and pharmacies, to feed us, to pray for us...to show us what a friend for life really is.

We may all be different. We may have political views that are polarizing...we may care for ourselves and our families differently, but there is a common thread that connects us. That thread is love, and it is spun from the spirit of sameness and understanding.

As I sat encircled by beautiful people in the DOC offering prayers on our behalf, I sobbed deeply in a place that I haven't allowed myself to go in awhile.  And after I let myself mourn. I felt the peace return.  I know it is going to be ok.

It seems impossible, but when I was sitting in the emergency room with Ryan the phrase, "God can make a way when there is no way," came to my mind.  Over and over again.

I don't know how everything is going to be ok again, but I don't think it's my job to question that right now.  My job is to hold onto my faith...and my hope.

In between all the hoopla, we did enjoy a couple days of classes and bonding with friends.  I have volumes to write and I know it will be cathartic to get it all down on virtual paper.

To all my friends at Friends for Life that offered support and love to us...thank you. 
I love you.

To all of you that read my blog and send love, prayers and good thoughts or way...thank you.
I love you.

It is from your example I'm learning what being a Friend for Life is all about.