Help Your Heart Grow

I turned into my parents' driveway in Maryland and parked the car. Before I could even step out and close the door, Mom flew out of the backyard, gesturing frantically.

"Your father had a breakdown," she blurted. "Your brother took him to the hospital. He's on the sixth floor. Go. Go. You need to go to him right now."

"Wait a second, Mom," I gently asserted. "What happened? What hospital?"

"He didn't eat anything, like he's supposed to. He started flailing himself around, threatening to kill himself. Your brother had to hold him down. Go."

"Okay, Mom." I squeezed her tight. "We'll take care of him."

I remembered earlier that morning how Dad disappeared from the kitchen. I sought him out to say goodbye and found him curled up in a fetal position on his bed.

"Hey, man," I razzed. "Taking a little nappy?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I'll be alright."

"Strange answer," I thought to myself as I gave him a kiss and left.

I found Dad on the sixth floor of the Medical Center, sitting in the corner with my brother, Laird. His seeing eye dog lay curled at his feet.

"Hey guys," I smiled. "What's the word?"

"I guess I got kinda' depressed," Dad confessed. "I forgot to put food in my system. I'm alright now."

I looked over at Laird, who shook his head-a telling communication. I'd hear the details later.

"My blood sugar must have really dropped," Dad added.

"Gotta' eat," I empathized.

Diabetes, selling a house, leaving the state of his ancestors after 69 years to move to Florida, learning to cope with blindness-any one of these might trigger a meltdown.

I knew my Dad would resist more than a trifling of professional help.

Too much shame.

Wait a second. Where did the judgment start? Who decreed our superhuman nature? What happened to compassion, for others and ourselves, the soulful cry that recognizes our humanity, faults and shortcomings included, weaknesses acknowledged, differences celebrated?

Does another person's struggle bring us down so much that we teach and preach denial as an alternative?

"Buck up. Tighten your chinstrap. Get a grip."

A grip on what?

We stuff emotions, squelch our feelings and put up false fronts of courage for the sake of appearances. We deny our right to sit with our own suffering and reflect, grieve or cut ourselves any slack.

Like a dormant volcano, our insides churn with prejudice and bias, slanted views painted by others, seldom questioned or examined.

Rampant dis-ease.

When the volcano blows the lava takes the form of cancer, heart attacks, depression and other illness.

What if we poked a few holes in that mountain of pride before it swelled to explosion?

What if we forgave and accepted, praised and lauded our crazy diversity?

Could we release the steam before it gushes and burns?

Try today, at least once to pick a moment and notice someone else's struggle-without mental commentary or your idea of a fix. Reach out without expectation.

Then do the same exercise on yourself.

You, too, deserve untainted appreciation.

Give yourself a break.

Thanks, Dad, for showing us your human side. It helps us love you even more.

That's A View From The Ridge?

About The Author

Author Ridgely Goldsborough invites you to subscribe to The Daily Column, a heart-felt collection of stories that inspire hope and courage. Please do so at www.aviewfromtheridge.com.

ridge@aviewfromtheridge.com

limousine Chicago airport Beardstown ...

In The News:

The largest earthquake to hit Nevada since the 1950s happened on Tuesday, followed by a series of tremors, officials said.

NASA wants to return to the moon in 2024, but Elon Musk is thinking bigger than that -- he thinks humans can be on Mars by 2026.

A monolith that went viral after appearing on a Romanian hillside has mysteriously “disappeared.”

Another mysterious monolith is causing a viral sensation after appearing on a hill in northern Romania.

One of the exotic birds that was stolen from a California zoo on Sunday morning has been returned, while the other remains missing.

One of the most famous scientific works produced by Sir Isaac Newton hundreds of years ago is getting new light after two historians uncovered copies of the first edition in 27 countries, more than double the amount previously known.

A mysterious space object that has been captured by Earth's orbit and is widely believed to be a rocket booster from the 1960s is now viewable to skygazers as it gets closer to the planet.

Officials say that the mysterious monolith in a remote Utah desert was illegally installed on public lands.

While the cases have caused concern in various countries, the USDA stresses that transmission between animals and humans is very unlikely.

One of the last lunar events of 2020 is happening on Monday with a double dose for eager skywatchers, thanks to a beaver moon and lunar eclipse.

Help Your Heart Grow

Nutrition Nutrition