JUST SHOOT ME LIKE A HORSE

Just shoot me like a horse. That was the plea I kept begging my wife to grant me during the past two weeks I have been fighting a stomach virus that I would wish on to know one. On top of that I have had my normal constant 24/7 migraines with what I am guessing maybe 4 hours of headache free time during the last ten days. Not being new to pain and illness I thought for a moment that my guardian angels had final said “enough is enough, he has final done it.” You see I was what you my call an adventurous teenager always pushing the horizon of adventure. My mother tells her friends still that the local E.R. know us by first name. Later in life I was blindsided by these constant chronic headaches that have now been like a plague to me for twelve years. So, kidney stones, appendix, broken bones, all are just badges of honor for me. But combine the stomach virus from Hell and a migraine atop of it and you can shoot me like a horse.
Now that I have given you my state of mind I want to really tell you what is important and it is not my health update. Actually, if you continue to read this I am certain that you will not only identify with it but walk away thinking about it again and again.
During this entire time of illness I have been blessed, no showered with love, friendship, and generosity. However, I must again go back to one person. My spouse, my best friend, my love, my everything, my loving bride Janelle. When we married 20 years ago our vowels said to love, honor, obey, through sickness and health, through good times and bad. Well, if a spouse would get a medal like a solider does for bravery and going above the call of duty my wife would have the Congressional Medal of Honor if it was up to me. So, when you get home or were ever you go and you have time to sit with that one special person, you’re everything make sure they know that you think they should have the Congressional Medal of Honor too. Maybe more importantly let them know that you will do the same for them.
Finally, I also have realized that many of my friends, neighbors look at me and see what looks like a health, onry, normal pain in the butt John. Just being himself. But you cannot see fatigue sometimes. You cannot see headaches. You cannot see depression always. Just like they say on television, “Please don’t try this at home.” But if you went out to your garage and took the largest screw driver you had and jammed it as deep as you could into your brain. Now, leave it there. Some days, it really does not bother you much. Other days the weather bothers it, or you keep hitting it, or it seems like everyone that talks to you grabs it and gives it a good twist. That is the best I can do to describe a chronic migraine.
Now everyone has some sort of pain. Many of us have back, neck, head pain. You could have something more cancer, diabetes, or AIDS. It could even be depression or anxiety I not sure it matters what the pain is since we all live with pain and well deal with pain differently. The old faithful saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Have you ever stop to think about the person being a “jerk” might be actually having a bad day because his “screwdriver” has been twisted by everyone he saw today? Yeah, but he looked fine. Right? Well, who are we to say what is “fine.” So, maybe the next time someone goes flying by you in their car on the way home from work or is a jerk in the store. I even caught myself thinking, “I wonder if he is a kidney donor and he is rising to the hospital to save a person’s life.” Wow, would that be cool!
Just maybe if we gave each other a little slack the more often we would get slack back when we are the ones being the jerk! You may be surprised letting them off the hook may have let them coop with their pain one more day and it also has its own self-rewards. Sure, you’re going to let off a few real buttheads but in the long run does it really matter.