So today I'm at work, waiting for the clock to strike 5. The phone rings, and I pick it up, expecting someone asking for help with their computer, or some dumb request that forces me to get off my lazy ass and walk over to their desk.
It's the receptionist. My dad is calling me. My dad doesn't normally call me at work. My mind starts to wonder what this call could be about.
My dad begins to describe his location. "The emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital," he says. Immediately, thoughts of my mom shoot painfully to my brain. Several days ago, she was complaining about sharp pains near the base of her head and neck, and drowsiness.
She has had surgery on her head within the last two years; she had a cancerous cyst on her scalp and had to have it removed. Well, it seems like something's back, though this time it may be internal, and not on the surface.
The last year has been tough on my family. It seems as though all our healths are diminishing. My own mortality was flashed before my eyes as I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Lupus. My sister had a heart procedure done to fix an arrythmeia, though it was unsuccessful. She also has severe migranes and is sick quite often, vomiting from the pain. My dad has a heart condition also, though his could be more severe someday, resulting in heart attacks and strokes. And now my mom has some unknown bug, though we're all guessing it's something cancerous, which is the worst of all.
It's times like these that I realize how fragile and frail the human life is. One single moment, you're programming a tic-tac-toe game, making good money and waiting for 5 PM. The next, you're scared witless, waiting for a phone call about someone you love so much. It's incredible how fast your life changes.
I hope this is the beginning and the end of it all.