Post-vacation blues has hit me like a ton of bricks! Like for real, I low-key cried today while looking through pics. My time in Hawaii was more than magical (will be posting my trip very soon), so coming back to the monotonous office life was dreadful, to say the least. In the past couple of days, I’ve found myself in an extremely negative head space. I’ve fixated on what I don’t have at the moment (financial freedom to travel year-round) and have overlooked how fortunate I really am.
As I was in the midst of complaining, I remembered a story my mom shared with me.
We were originally talking about how sweet of a father my dad was to me. As an infant, I developed a nearly fatal disease which caused me to stay in the ICU and Children’s Hospital for almost a year. For most of that time, I was not expected to recover because of the illness being so rare, even the DR’s did not know exactly how to treat it. My mom explained that my daddy would sing to me everyday.
I shared a room with a little girl who was dying from brain cancer. My parents noticed that she rarely had any visitors but they were so preoccupied with my illness, they felt there was not much they could do to help. After some time, on a random day, the little girl opened the curtain that divided the room and softly asked, “Jasmin’s daddy, can you sing to me too? You have a beautiful voice.” This took my parents by surprise because thus far, she had kept to herself.
Her sweet demeanor immediately touched my parents, because all along this little girl was listening in on my visits, and was yearning for any sort of affection.
From then on, my dad began to sing to both of us. There even reached a point where she felt comfortable enough to be held by him every so often.
Once Disney’s, “Aladdin,” came out on VHS, my parents repeatedly played the movie. The little girl, once again, asked for my parents’ permission to watch it with us.
Of course, I was too young to remember her but according to my mom, her presence was unforgettable. Less than a year later, this sweet angel passed away. Babygirl’s life was stolen from her way too soon. Her short life consisted of being stuck in a hospital room, alone.
I had to sit on this story and reflect on it. Like holy shit, I made a full recovery…I’ve had the opportunity to travel, meet new people, and just live…how am I still complaining?
Although there may be real shitty days, stories like this remind you of how fortunate you are. For some reason, my life was spared. And instead of sulking, I should be counting my blessings.
I know we’ve all had experiences where we have found ourselves lucky to come out of the situation “alive,” so to speak. So in troubling times, if we try to refer to those instances and practice our gratitude towards that outcome, maybe we can find some inner peace.
To the little angle in heaven, may you rest in love ❤
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