My least favorite month

August is, and almost always has been, my least favorite month. For one thing, it's generally the hottest month of the year, and hot is my least favorite temperature. At the same time, it's usually the month that school begins, and regardless of being a child or parent, that means the end to our carefree summer days. August has also brought much sadness to my life. In 1992 I was getting ready to leave for college, and I was having some personal and health issues. In 1994 Uncle Bill died and in 1995 Uncle Jack died. In 1996 my father was diagnosed with the lung disease that has robbed him of so many of his abilities. While my heart aches for my father that he's had to deal with this for 15 years, I'm also full of admiration for the way he's handled the challenges. The year of 2004 was one of the worst. Within a two week period of August, my father was admitted to the hospital with shingles (dangerous in a healthy person, extremely dangerous in his condition), I developed poison ivy so badly my eyes swelled shut, my grandfather passed away, and my wonderful husband was in a head-on collision (where I'm so thankful the only real damage done was the car being totaled). Eighteen years ago brought the August sadness of 1993. I was sitting at home trying to get my classes scheduled the way I wanted for my sophomore year of school when the phone rang. It was my best friend calling with the news that another of our close friends had just been diagnosed with leukemia and was at the hospital. I remember calling my mom, in tears, to let her know that I was leaving and heading to the hospital. I'll always be grateful for what my mother did next...she let me know that there was no way two distraught teenagers were driving into the city during a Friday rush hour and she left work immediately to drive us down. In my teenage years my small little hometown had lost nine teenagers to various car accidents and my anxiety level regarding life was a little high. I spent that last week before I left for college sitting at the hospital every day and providing what little comfort I could. I remember leaving for college and feeling so guilty that my life was going on fairly normally while my friend fought for his life in the hospital bed. On the upside, my friend survived and is thriving today, although he lives on the west coast and I don't get to see him nearly as often as I would like. Yesterday however, is a reminder that August can also be full of many wonderful blessings. In October I wrote about the nephew of a good friend from college. Yesterday I received a new email, stating that his latest scans showed no cancer. He still faces treatments to make sure absolutely everything is gone, but I'm so excited for their family! Life is so full of ups and downs, and some have bigger hills than others, and some of those big hills are caused by bigger valleys. But I also know that to appreciate, truly appreciate the "ups", we have to live through the "downs"...and I'm so grateful for the strength to get through them all.