The most amazing thing about life is that we can celebrate. At times when life just beats you down, it might not feel like celebration is really in the cards. There is no one that has not felt sadness, loss and fear. Whether its losing family , a friend or your own fears its just there. There are so many days and times that we need to celebrate. Yesterday was one of them.
Its hard to put a face to heart disease because we see the classic movie script. My Dad was 54 and probably would have fallen into that group but the reality is after his heart valve replacement I sat outside the hospital and took a huge breathe of relief because he made it through the surgery. Less than a week later, he never left the hospital. I don't think I have ever taken a breathe since.
Women and heart disease. Where do I even start? My Mom had her first stroke in her 30's. She was adopted so we really don't have a lot of family history on her side. At 56, a double valve replacement, multiple bypasses, she was found deceased after throwing a clot after surgery. She was taking 27 pills a day. Can we say over medicated???? Probably one of the worse calls I have ever recieved.
Two months later her lifetime friend killed himself, another face of heart disease because his heart was broken.
Yesterday Maggie Love presented on stage. She is a child survivor and such an inspiration. As I sat there looking around I saw a thousand blue sweat shirts from Lockheed Martin, hundreds from Adventist Healthcare, t shirts from MT& T, Sodexo out in force, I then saw Ashley Ingram who lost her Mom at 44, and Senator Frank Shore who is a survivor. In my life I have felt so alone when I lost my parents and then when I had my own heart attack and surgery. Even my husband asked after if I was fixed. I love him so much but fixed I am not. No one is because its always there. The fear and facing mortality.
For the first time in a long time as I stood among 8,000 advocate and survivors, I did not feel alone. It reminded me of Footprints in the sand.
One night I dreamed of walking along the shores of different lands.
I could tell that You were with me by the footprints in the sand.
As I gazed upon the heavens, I saw pages of my life.
It was then I realized that You remained there by my side.
When the clouds began to gather and the rains came falling down,
I looked to only find one set of footprints on the ground.
I said, "Lord, why did You leave me in the troubled times of life?
I believed that You would always walk beside me day and night." (Then I heard:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
When you see one set of footprints in the sand"
Dear Lord, will You be with me as I travel through the years?
Will You be there in the struggles? Will You wipe away the tears?
As my eyes turn toward the ocean and the shores of distant lands,
I'm still thinking of the single set of footprints in the sand. (I heard Him say:)
"My precious child, I'd never leave you.
I have carved you on the hollow of My hand.
It's then I carried you in My arms,
There is no face to heart disease because we don't wear it on the outside so much as we do on the inside. Its you neighbor, your friend, your Brother, Sister, Mother or Father. Its the number ONE killer of men and women in America and that is the true reality.
Thank you to all who were able to come out yesterday and those who gave to the greater washington regions heartwalk.
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