Coming
Back Strong
“The
world breaks everyone and afterward, many are strong at the broken
places...” Earnest Hemingway
Many
years ago, I had surgery on my neck. I had herniated the vertebral
disc between C-6 & 7, and the disc had broken in two, with part
of it in the neural tube, and part in the nerve bundle coming out of
the spine. To say the rupture was painful, is to understate by a
factor of 1,000. Anyone who's herniated a disc can testify to that. I
had been in pain for years because the disc bulged and impinged
nerves. I spent many a sleepless night trying to find a comfortable
position--on the floor, on the bed, on any horizontal surface large
enough to hold me. When the disc finally blew, and I lost feeling
down my left arm, I knew it was time for something drastic. After the
surgery, and ever since, I have had no pain at all. My left arm is
only slightly weaker than the right, just as a reminder of that phase
of my life.
The
Ken Burns PBS documentary about the Roosevelts gave a clear picture
of what each of them overcame in order to lead this country. They
weren't perfect people, and their wealth certainly helped, but money
does not keep the heart from breaking, nor does it shelter one from
great pain. It was not only the story of the Roosevelt family, but the
agony this country endured during the great depression. My own
family, like the majority of Americans, lost everything. People were
broken, lives in disarray. And yet, we came back stronger than ever
before.
At some point in every human life, there will be pain and loss that
seem insurmountable. That experience can destroy us, or it can make
us stronger in all the broken places. Sometimes, what remains is
simply the memory of the pain, and the valuable lessons learned from
it.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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