10: One Another, Part 4

I've mentioned how my father-in-law, Jim Bowen, has helped me through this journey of high blood sugar. But my father-in-law and mother-in-law, Brenda, have helped me in various ways since March 31, 2021.

Over the years, long before my sugar issues, both Gran and Grandad, as the kids call them, have worked together diligently to carve out better habits in their own lives. Eating better and working out appropriately. Gran always had the best veggie lasagna! She, of course, makes regular lasagna, too, but the veggie was quite tasty and better for you. But one thing she always made that I loved for breakfast was her mini biscuits!! Those were amazing. Granted, you shouldn't eat 20 of them in one sitting, but they were small and, therefore, better for you if you ate them in moderation. That's true of any food, honestly.

However, Brenda has always given sound advice throughout my time with her concerning health. She researches things and determines what works best for herself and those she loves. She also quickly confirms things she has seen online since she has at least 4 healthcare professionals in the family. Not a bad thing to have for anyone. But she's also vigilant because of her previous husband, John. John passed away at a very young age, approximately my age now. That's eye-opening for anyone because it shows how fleeting life can be when you least expect it. 

My father-in-law has a similar life experience with the loss of his spouse, Sharon, Leslie's mother. She was even younger than John when she passed away from the effects of ALS. In both cases, they share a bond of losing a spouse in their younger years but gaining love later. For that reason, they know true tragedy and how to carry on.

Having high blood sugars and then Afib were not tragedies. Had I died from something, that would have been a tragedy. What both of them showed me was how I could overcome those issues and carry on. They understood how scary it can be to have a condition, but they were always quick to remind me that things can get better. 

My father-in-law has had his share of health concerns, but he's never let that dictate his life. He was an avid kayaker when I first married Leslie. So much so that he took Leslie and me on our first river rafting excursion in 2003. Then, later, we had kayaking lessons that allowed him to share his favorite activity with us.

I had always wanted to go river rafting since seeing the film River Wild, one of my favorites of all time. So, when we had the chance to go down the Ocoee River in Tennessee, I was nervous but stoked. It was something new I had never tried. But I picked up on it pretty well. Well, enough that the next year, we tried the kayaking. The biggest thing I wanted to learn to do with kayaking was rolling. I tried it in the pool a few times but wanted to do it on the open river. But to Mr. Bowen, that wasn't the most important thing. What was important was learning the basics of kayaking and enjoying it.

There was one particular point in our kayaking excursion that Leslie and I, in separate kayaks of course, had to go down a stretch that was long ahead of my father-in-law. That seemed uneasy to us, but Mr. Bowen knew we could do it. And we did do it, in various ways. I went down first and got turned around backwards because of partially getting caught in an eddy. An eddy is a section of the river that is not moving compared to the flow of the river, and thus you have to maneuver around it to be sure you don't roll over and possibly have to bail out of the kayak. So, I went down the stretch blind, but came out ok in the end. Leslie followed after me and got caught in the same eddy, but in her case it unnerved and caused her to flip some because she got too close a strainer. A strainer is a section of the river with a bunch of tree branches or roots sinking down and it catches you like a strainer in a sink. Leslie held on to the limbs with all her might as he dad came down behind her and allowed her to grab hold of his kayak. We then retrieved her kayak and paddle and started back down the river again.

But the moral of that story was, life will throw you lots of curveballs. Sometimes they will twist you all around, but you still have to balance yourself and move through in whatever way you can. Sometimes those curveballs will knock you off your path, and you might have to hold on for dear life, but ultimately there is someone that can assist you. In this case, Christ. We always have the help we need, when we need it. As I went down the river backward I wasn't scared, because I knew I had protection, not only from those with me, but from Jesus too. For Leslie, she was ok after that incident, but also had protection waiting on those that loved her to help and through Jesus as well.

We always have God on our side to support us and help us through challenging things. Jesus also presents us with people who can help us here. Gran and Grandad, Jim and Brenda, my in-laws, have been there for me as much as anyone else I have named thus far.

But there is still one last group of people I haven't mentioned that have helped on this journey day in and day out. You'll read about them in the next segment of 10: One Another, Part 5.