I was sitting on an airplane last Thursday, reflecting on the short week. I was emotionally exhausted and needed to find the reserve to make it through a birthday celebration in California for the weekend.
I started off last week in a children’s hospital. Not a place I will ever choose to be, but I am oddly grateful at the same time it exists. If you’ve never experienced a children's hospital, it’s an odd mix of magic and emotion. While the air is heavy with worry or grief, every employee is brightly colored with a smile on their face. Every square inch of architecture is eye-catching and pleasant to look at. Except for the real reason children are there, it’s a fun place to be by design.
I was there because a very special young person in my life was having surgery to remove a large tumor in the middle of her shoulder blades. This was not her first surgery. She knew exactly what to do and what to expect. A detail that didn’t sit well with me. She shouldn’t have to know this. My heavy emotions were added to the collective mix, but that isn’t what left me emotionally exhausted at the end of the week.
Sadly, while everyone’s energy and focus should have been on her and her recovery, I found myself having to fight to regulate my emotions because of two adults! There are two people in my life that need constant emotional boundaries. I generally keep them at a distance, but our paths intersected last week because of the kiddos we have in common.