Blessings in Disguise

"There are no mistakes, no coincidences. 
All events are blessings given to us to learn from. "
                   ~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

When things happen in my life,  I trust that there is a reason.

The reason is not always evident at the time, but looking back

I can see the good that came about, the change it may have forced

upon me, or the growth that occurred because of it.

It's the unpleasant events I am referring to now.

After all, we don't usually try to find reasons for the joyful ones.

Perhaps it's just my way of dealing with the difficult ones, like

loss, sadness, disappointment, and despair.

This past month, my family has experienced things that stop and make

you think.

One such event was the hospitalization of my husband, Vance.

Totally healthy one day, and a few days later - not.

After bringing him to the Emergency Room one day a few weeks ago

and coming home alone with no answers to his unbearable headaches

and fever, I lay awake for much of the night with my mind racing.

I thought about all he means to our family.

And  I thought about what our lives would be like without him.

I can't really speak for the kids, but possibly a few of these same

thoughts could have crossed their minds too because Adam and Kerry

came home from college to spend time in the hospital with him.

And I'm sure over the past three weeks that Vance has contemplated

many things too.

We have discovered that Vance has Legionnaire's Disease that

he picked up while at a business conference in Utah earlier in September.

He's recovering - although more slowly than we imagined - but home

from the hospital and doing well.

Is it weird for me to think, even now, that this was a blessing in disguise?