Adversity: Blessings in Disguise

Adversity brings about the flavors of life. It builds character, topples the staunchest icons, and unites the masses. Any type of diversity, whether being the shortest person on the basketball team, or traveling around the globe through six different countries in the same amount of days is sure to confuse, elicit comparisons, make one uncomfortable and unsure of oneself.

Adversity also catalyzes change. The change may be in a forward direction, or it may thrust one back into an unexpected, unwanted position. Being ever changing and different is what makes life the fantastic journey that it is. Unusual and unexpected events or people remind us that we are not the ones in control. The world would be a very dull place if we were all the same. One must adapt to change or wither and die, spiritually and physically.

My life was ordinary. I had a boyfriend at the time, and a six-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. I had just moved to Colorado on a whim, "Why not?" were the exact words used when the subject had come up about moving to another part of the country. Jobs were hard to find in southern California after the earthquakes in the spring of 1992. I was 33 years old, I believed in God, (I thought), and I was acclimating myself to the different scenery, people, and culture of Colorado. There were no similarities between the two diverse areas that had a common thread. The first example that I noticed was the ability to fill up the vehicle's gas tank before paying for it!

I enrolled my daughter into middle school, obtained a poor paying part-time job and started to settle down into my new life. Soon after, my daughter started having headaches, vision problems, and other intermittent flu-like symptoms. I was loaned money from my boss to enable her to visit the ophthalmologist. My daughter's and my life changed that day. The doctor found a tumor, and within hours, we were speeding our way to The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.

The next six weeks were a study in chaos, turmoil, pain, and despair. However, I discovered through all the trauma a strength of spirit and a peace that I now know, that would never have been possible anywhere else. Different people, races, and economic status all suffer the same. Pain is pain.

My view of life became a matter of quality, of love and cherishing what I did have, not on money, clothing, the type of home I had. I saw dying children laugh, play games, and look with never-ending trust into the nurse's eyes as the nurses administered their medication and IV solutions. Adversity. What was once a robust six-year-old child became an image of a holocaust victim in a matter of months. How does one deal with that kind of change? The child laughed, the child held a Styrofoam cup between her two wrists because she did not have the strength in her hands to hold the cup to her lips. My daughter laughed hysterically and pulled her hair out by the handful when it started to 'shed' one day on one of our return trips to Grand Junction for her radiation treatment. We laughed at the sight of it; we trusted that everything would be okay.

My daughter has now just turned 21. She is blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, has seizures, and is on disability because she cannot work. She volunteers frequently at the nursing home where I work, and cleans the house for me when I am at work. Adversity, or variety, is still the 'spice' in our lives, but it is a good life. It has enabled me to focus on the important things in life and to face adifficulties at work in a successful manner. If I had to do it all over again, I would not wish for my child to be sick, but I cannot help but think that this is what God had in store for both of us, and to be able to weather the storms that life often blows our way.