Maybe they're just freckles...

These words were uttered by Claire while explaining to her father that the white spots on her brain and spinal cord were indicative of MS. Typical Claire. Smart aleck. Witty. Seconds later Angelica, her father, and I are holding her hands and we're crying as Erik prays over her. Her father is quiet. What is this thing that's taken hold of his baby girl? What's happening to our friend who was on a platform dancing when she realized her abdomen was numb? I've been thinking about this a lot today. Somehow even managing to teach the concept of an "inch" to a bunch of 7 year olds. All the while, I'm thinking "who gives a crap about an inch?" Inches don't matter when you get sick. Then, I read Dan's blog. Read about reacting more to a favorite restaurant closing than finding out a friend is sick and why that is. Dan, you sounded almost like you think that's strange. It's not. It's easy. It's human. Hearing that our favorite place for tacos is closing isn't as scary as facing our own mortality. A place closing doesn't make you think, "What would I do if it were me?" A place doesn't make you feel inadequately equipped to support, comfort, calm, distract, or simply be with it. A person does. A person requires infinitely more from us. Emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We don't have the luxury of a knee jerk reaction when someone we love is involved.