(This is a continuation of posts about my experience with Guillain Barre Syndrome that began with the post called Heartbeats.)
When my eyes opened, the first thing I saw was a colorful abstract painting hanging above my bed. I was pretty sure it was not made by adult hands. I was right. The painting was done by a child from the church I was attending when I became sick. As I looked around, I saw drawings and cards all over the walls in my ICU room. Many of them were hand made by children from the church. Most of these children I didn’t know, but they knew there was this Mr. Bernecker who was very sick and needed cheering up and their prayers. I will always remember waking up to that abstract painting and seeng everything else on the walls. A few years before I had said that there was no place for organized religion. I was beginning to come around to thinking differently before I became sick. After seeing the ceiling and walls in my ICU room and having the support of so many people in the congregation, I knew there was a good reason to be surrounded by others that care about you. I now see a difference between organized and institutionalized religion, and I am not a fan of institutionalized religion. But that’s a discussion for a later post. I do hope that groups would use the resources I have on this site to organize and support one another. This post is relatively short because I feel this subject is so important that it needs to stand alone. I invite you to share your own experiences when you were surrounded by the support of others in a time of need.
1 Comment
Melody Hawkey
11/29/2015 06:40:12 pm
I have had numerous times at my church when I would have one of my dystonia attacks and many of the church members would come to my aid. It got to the point that they would know exactly what to do due to the shared knowledge from my grandson Jason and my sister-in-law Eileen.I sometimes felt embarrassed with all the attention, but they all were helpful and caring. It can be hard for us who are used to being the caregivers to be put in the position of having to accept care. I went so far as to not attend anything for awhile. Now I am slowly getting out there again and doing things at church and other places. I'm just taking things a little more cautiously. I have also realized that it's ok to let others take the lead. I think sometimes I was selfish in doing so much, when at the time I thought I was being helpful. What a difference age and hindsight can make.
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