I called Sister K on my lunch break today.  We talked as I wandered the streets to get my mid-day iced tea from McDonald’s.  I’ll admit that I have one just about everyday.  I’ll also admit for $1.08 there are worse things I could be addicted to. 

I had called Mom first but she was rushing to eat lunch so Dad could pick her up and take her to rehab.  She mentioned her leg was in pain again.  She was frustrated and down. We didn’t talk much about it and got off the phone quickly.  So I called Sister K instead to inform her of this.  We talked about it for a minute and then Sister K sighed and in a silly way said, “What are we gonna do?”  And I paused for a minute and laughed to myself because there was such truth behind the question yet we both had no idea what the answer was.  I also realized in this instant I could begin to get sad and down.  I could begin to wallow in these circumstances.  How things keep coming up with Mom and she can’t shake this leg pain.  Instead though I caught myself.  I was focused on positive thoughts just as Sister K said “We’re gonna hug her.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Yes. That is exactly what we are going to do.  Then I chimed in with my own list- we’re going to tell her we love her, we’re going to call her, we’re going to listen, we’re even going to surprise her on Sunday for Mother’s Day.  

We wish we could fix this but we can’t. Sometimes the pain is too great, the medicines are not working fast enough, the symptoms are beyond our comprehension and all we can do is hug Mom.  It’s those hugs that will say so much while at the same time saying nothing not all. 

So we’re going to hug her and we’re not going to stop.   

Have you ever thought about the power of a hug?  Do you ever hug someone when you don’t know what else to say? Do you love a good hug as much as I do?