At some point this weekend, I was going to blog about how "Basketball Doesn't Define Me". I may still get to this topic eventually but I am going to talk about something else tonight.
Last week, I blogged about a friend of mine being in the hospital. Today, three friends and I decided to make another visit to the hospital. One friend was there an hour and a half ahead of me. After I arrived, the other two people arrived about 15 minutes afterward.
The good news is our hospitalized friend seemed improved. As like last time, she was very mentally sharp. However, she still had a breathing apparatus so speaking was a bit forced. Overall, she seemed to be in decent spirits. I'm sure having three people visit was a positive as well.
At some point during the visit, we had a few hospital staff flow through including the attending physician. The physician was a nice gentleman and greeted us and our friend. The physician stated that he was happy that our friend had made a lot of improvements in the past few weeks.
However, the physician noted that there were still some things our friend needed to do to get better. Maybe the thought of the work that lay ahead was daunting and frustrating and our friend started to cry. I don't know how my other friends were reacting but it was tough to see this. Even though I was the only guy, I was tempted to cry.
Our friend eventually did settle down and we all chatted for a while longer. Eventually, we all had to leave and our friend was crying once again. We all reassured our friend that we would be back.
In the past six months or so, I've learned that I hate seeing people suffer. From friends to family, I've done my best to help people's struggles. Though I am reluctant to talk about it publicly, the fact is my mom has had struggles with memory in the past year. I've taken on a lot of responsibility to try to help her out.
There is another friend of mine that I hang out with every now and then and talk with frequently. The friend accidentally hurt themselves a few months ago which derailed some of our plans. I know they were frustrated so I visited the friend once and spent a lot of time talking on the phone. My friend did the same for me a few years ago so this was not a problem for us.
Unfortunately, there's a not a lot I can do for my hospitalized friend right now except to visit. My friends and I have bounced some ideas around to get some gifts but not sure if they are practical at this point.
The main point is that seeing people struggle or suffer is not fun. However, if there is a lesson here, it is that I need to appreciate what I have AND also help others who may not be as fortunate.
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