Yesterday I wrote about Mom’s dilemma regarding leaving the house with a friend in the afternoon since she didn’t have her walker.  I resisted every urge inside screaming at me to problem solve.  Instead I just backed off. I hoped it would work out alright. I also knew I didn’t have a choice except to let it resolve itself.  It did, but not without chaos for my mom. 

She said she took the walker she normally has inside our house out into the garage to wait for her friend to pick her up.  In the process she knocked over our recycling bin and bottles went rolling everywhere.  One of those bottles was glass and went rolling out into the street and broke.  When her friend arrived she didn’t mind at all picking up the bottles and even picked up the glass pieces.  This is friendship at its finest.  My family has learned a lot about who our friends are through Mom’s diagnosis of MS, who we can count on, who we can share our pure moments and who Mom isn’t afraid to call to ask for help. 

The entire situation makes me want to scream out of frustration because this is not the first time a tiny issue because a large one.  I feel like when MS is involved, it turns rain into pouring rain; molehills into mountains; you get the drift.  It makes life difficult.  A simple mishap like knocking over a box of bottles becomes a huge problem and one that cannot be taken care of easily when you are by yourself.  The entire situation made Mom stressed and frazzled.  And rightfully so.  It would make me stressed and frazzled and I don’t have MS.  In the end she was happy she had decided to leave the house and spend the afternoon with friends. 

In hindsight, there are lots of lessons to learn. We need to plan better to make sure Mom has what she needs if she is planning to leave that day.  It’s okay for me to back off and trust a situation can resolve itself on its own.  Most importantly, Mom has some great friends, people who have become like family to us.  These friends hold our hands and are there for Mom because Dad, Sister K and I can’t always be there.  These friends are little blessings sprinkled throughout our lives.