But I Smile Anyway…

A little repost of an older piece of mine.

Remember my task yesterday? I had to visit, and comment on blog posts I hadn’t commented on before…here.

Well, today my task is to choose one of these posts as an inspiration point for a post of my own.
I have chosen to use this article on Peace During The Journey to remember a time in our life, a few years back…

I love my Pops.  If you have been reading from early on, you’ll know the profound effect he’s had on my life. (If not catch up here).

Ask my Pops how old he is, and he’ll say “11, just a year older than [Lil Man]!”

11?  My dad?  When I’m due to be 40 in a few short months?

Yup. 11.

And this all stems from his faith.

11 years ago, on March 1st, I got a missed call that devastated me.  I was at work, and my mum never calls during work hours… never.  So to see a missed call frightened the heck out of me.  I asked permission from my then boss to call back, and tried the house phone…no answer. I called her mobile…not on.

I tried the surgery (Pops was a dentist before retirement).  His dental nurse answered and she was hesitant to speak to me.  “Call your husband, please, he knows everything.” she said.  then and there I knew something major was up.  I convinced her to tell me and she reluctantly informed me that Pops had been taken to hospital… suspected heart attack.

NO! No! no!… What was she talking about? I had been with them just the day before, and all had been relatively fine.  We live 3 hours away so with some hesitation, I had come home the previous night.  I hadn’t wanted to leave them that night, but I knew I needed to be back.  Something had been pulling me to stay, but I had ignored it…why?!

I informed my big boss, who was a superstar, and sent me home, telling me to take all the time I needed to make sure my parents were ok. Luckily Hubby Dearest was working from home, and had indeed had a call from my mum, telling him the details.  She had told him not to tell me over the phone, but to get me home first.

We hurriedly packed, and left. I was driving, as he was not a licence holder then.  I got a call on my mobile as we were nearing the turn off to the hospital.  He answered.  It was my brother.  Typical male, I thought, as he was asking personal details for Pops and Mum.  They are his parents too! Why didn’t he know them?! I understood mum couldn’t answer, she was probably with Pops.

We pulled up at the hospital and Hubby Dearest took a deep breath…”Don’t panic…” (and you know the panic that phrase itself instils in your heart) “…but mum’s been admitted too.”

WHAT??? What was going on?  I just had to get inside and see everyone, make sure my brother, who was on his own, was ok too.

After locating him, he managed to tell us the details.  Pops had chest pains, so instead of ringing an ambulance, he sauntered to the doctors surgery, which was around the corner from our house and his own Dental Practice.  They had checked him and told him he really needs an ambulance.  He said not to worry, he would just mosey on home himself, and get ready, and call one from there.

Mum, meanwhile was in a state. She had been extremely unwell suffering from awful haemorrhaging due to the menopause, and was almost bedridden herself.  The ambulance was called, my brother informed and they went off to the hospital. Yes he had indeed suffered a heart attack, thankfully minor, but still  A HEART ATTACK!

As he was wired up to the various monitors and regulators, stable, my brother said he looked at mum, who went a deathly shade of pale, and promptly collapsed…  a dead faint!

The worry had kept her going, but as she knew Pops was in safe hands, she finally had given in.  So now we had both parents in two separate wards, unable to meet but concerned for each other. They were the Romeo and Juliet of the hospital   apparently, as one of the hospital porters told me!

Long story short…she needed some emergency surgery, which she had, we had to be there for both of them, and we were. Pops needed an Angioplasty, which was performed at a later date.

But a huge question mark was there hovering above us. Why Pops? He was the healthiest person we knew, good diet, no alcohol, fit, non smoker.  Family history, we were told. It was always going to happen as it was in his blood, so strongly. And that was true.  His brother was taken at a relatively young age, through diabetes and heart complaints, as was his oldest sister.  The other 3 sisters all had heart problems. He had been the only one with no health complaints as such.

Still, such was his faith, and belief that he would be ok with God’s grace, that when things settled down, he decided that God had given him another chance at life.  He had been reborn that day of the heart attack.  After that day, once he was given a clean bill of health, he cleaned up his lifestyle, even more  than before, and started his yoga mission. This helped him so much personally, that he took it upon himself to train as a teacher, and now spreads the benefits via his lessons.  And he does them for free. They are his way of giving back to humanity, as his God would want. This is what our Gurus said to do. As long as you have what you need, share, and give to charity, be it money or time.

So there you have it, that is why my Pops, my father, has just celebrated his 11th birthday! And believe me, he does celebrate it!