Wordful Wednesday//Bond, Parental Bond

Shaken, not stirred, right??

Okay--let's move away from Mr. Bond and towards what this post is really about: the bond I share with my parents.

Living with your parents in your 20s is different from when you are that moody teenager. I am actually not as independent now as I was then; the responsibility for me that falls onto my parents is practically greater now as well.

There's nothing wrong to be said about people that need or choose to live with their parents. But it was not in my original plan. I mean, I didn't think I'd be sick either, but look what happens in this world. Your planning can go wrong in a second. Or if you're me, it can go wrong from a bite by something the size of a poppy seed.

I am thankful I do have this strong and secure bond with my parents because being sick without that support would be excruciating. From hearing what other people have had to say about their experiences with the lack of parental support, I know how blessed I am. My parents have never really treated me like a burden, which is what I have always been fearful of them doing. They have treated me as sick when I've needed them to be there, but they also treat me as a person because that's what I am.

When first ill, experiencing horrific symptoms, my mother never doubted me. She never brushed it off as something less than it was even when she was told by others that nothing was wrong with me. She would demand second opinions, and when she could tell I was too frazzled to question a doctor or speak up for myself, she would do so for me.

At first, my father was not so quick to jump into the pool of my diagnosis, the doctors, and overall, trying to understand the whys and hows of my sickness. He would constantly ask me why God would make me this sick. He could not fathom why I suddenly went from relatively healthy to bedbound.

While he seemed to have troubling doubts with his faith, my doubts too were like a pendulum swinging. Some days I would curse God and cry out how unfair it was. Why me? I couldn't understand why my happiness had been taken, leaving me miserable.

Other days, my love for God soared. I was grateful for what he had given me, even with a major illness taking parts of me and my life away. Just look at the family God had surrounded me with!

So here's to my mother. My father. And of course, the higher power. I am grateful for all the parents I have in my life.