Birthdays and Curve Balls

Hey everyone! It's me. First of all, I want to apologize for having not posted for several weeks. I have been super busy with getting back in the swing of dance, taking my black belt test, and surprise, surprise, turning sixteen!

That's right, my birthday was yesterday and I have finally reached the magical stage of life most people call 'Sweet Sixteen.' When I woke up, I thought the day was going to be absolutely magical. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in order to make this a perfect birthday, but, as so frequently occurs in life, things didn't follow my regimented plan.

In our house, we have a tradition of going out for breakfast to a local bakery for doughnuts. I love DeBoer's bakery in Holland, Michigan (especially their Salted Caramel Doughnuts!!) so we went there. After picking out breakfast, we went to our grandparent's house and that was when the trouble started.

There are two things you need to know about my grandparents, specifically my Opa. He's stubborn, and he hates to admit when he's sick. Unless something is terribly wrong with him, he'll act like he's just fine. Yesterday as we were eating, my mom asked Opa why he was so pale. He'd barely touched his doughnuts, and he looked exhausted. He told her (in usual Opa fashion) that he was perfectly normal, but Oma told the truth. She mentioned earlier that morning he'd been unable to read from their Bible for morning devotions and that he'd been dizzy and light headed since.

Ever since the heart surgery he had less than a year ago, we've had to be more careful of Opa's health then before. My mom, who is a registered nurse, immediately took his blood pressure and pulse. They were both very, very low. We knew something was wrong when he said he had to lay down.

Now at first, I thought it was nothing but a few hours later, my mom called the hospital. The receptionist asked her if it was dehydration but by then Opa had been drinking fluids all day. A couple hours later, my mom rushed out the door to take my Opa to the hospital for a possible TIA (a mini stroke essentially).

As everyone else around me was panicking, I had to be the strong one. The one who said, "Alright, let's buckle down and do what we can to salvage today." I got my sister ready for her ballet class, made lunch for the others, and set up for whatever birthday celebration I would potentially have. But you know something readers? Sometimes it's really hard to be the one who stands there and weathers the storm so people can hide behind you.

I know in our house, I tend to be strongest out of all the kids. Once in a great while, it gives people the impression that I have no emotion, but the trick is, I hold it inside. I'm the kind of person who won't cry in front of everyone else, but will sob in her pillow for hours if she's alone. Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like that. Do you know what helped?

I texted my friends, my support network of people who I knew I could trust, and I was honest with them. I told them my Opa was in the hospital and it was birthday and today was just really hard. I asked them to pray and I know that they did because do you know what happened? My Opa was released from the hospital today, alive and well, and back with the family. God answered my prayer and He didn't bring my Opa home on the day He brought me safely into the world.

That's all for the day readers, but I hope you'll keep my story in mind next time life throws you a curve ball.

Sincerely,

Lara