In a sea of broken hearts, the story of one heart, made whole
We live in a time of broken hearts — over 4.5 million to the power of loved ones. That’s how many lives COVID has taken to date, how many family units have been diminished, and friend circles been broken. It’s profoundly unfathomable.
COVID has left a sea of broken hearts in her wake, a seemingly never-ending boulevard of broken dreams.
Among this astronomical collection of metaphorical broken hearts, earlier this summer I found out that my mother’s heart was, in fact, physically broken. As I was driving home from the airport — my first vacation in 18 months — Mom called to tell me she needed to have heart surgery. And so began our family’s journey to mend her heart.
If you’ve wondered where I’ve been this summer, — either IRL or on these platforms we like to call social — well, I’ve been mostly in Milwaukee. Schlemiel! Schlimazel! The land of curds and honey. Allegedly Algonquin for the good land (and a good land, it indeed is).
One and a half months after that first dread phone call, Mom’s surgery was a success and her heart fully restored. She is now recovering back at home in Austin. Thanks to God. Thanks to our doctors and nurses at St. Luke’s. Thanks to our guardian angels. Thanks to our ancestors. Thanks to science. Thanks to everyone who prayed. Thanks to the support of my friends, colleagues and clients. And thanks — large in part — to my mother’s courage, determination and faith.
I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a great canyon, staring down into an endless abyss of people and places and outcomes that I am so grateful for — and I’m grappling with the fact that my gratitude simply will never be able to fill it.
And yet, I’ve learned so much this summer that I surely could fill volumes of books on a shelf. While I’ll spare y’all the volumes, I do have a few new perspectives, lessons learned, along with a couple of new realities that I myself need to adjust to.
So over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some from this summer’s (not so much solo) sojourn.
But in the meantime, know that I’m trying to fill that abyss with gratitude. Know that healthcare workers are heroes — fighters for all of us on the frontlines of today’s most important fight, and angels to those whom they directly care for. Know that today’s awe-inspiring advancements in science are laying the foundation for healthier tomorrows. Know that heart health is foundational, knowledge is power, and caring for each other is everything.
