Crippled, Life Sucks and Then it Doesn't

There are times in our lives that can cripple us. 

          Cripple - Webster's Dictionary definition 2. - to disable; damage, impair.

Depending upon the person and the situation various ways of "crippling" can manifest in the individual.  A person can happen upon an accident and that accident can forever change their life, how they view something, do something, or even become something. 

Life can be "interesting" that way because you never know what could cripple a person.  It could be something that happened as a child, something that happens at work, something that happens at home, visiting friends or family; it could be anything that trips a person up and "cripples" them.

The thing is all of us face different events in our lives that can "cripple" us and some of us get through it and some don't.  Those of us that do get through it and past it normally have someone there to help us work it out or work around it.  Some of us can do it on our own (I would like to say I am one of those, I am Not), but most of us can't. 

I Feel for those that don't have someone to lean on or to assist them. 

I am a Lucky one!  I have my Wife and my Girls!

When I was diagnosed with Emphysema (Later Stage) I slipped into a really deep depression, one of those depressions that seems as if you are looking into the Abyss of Hell!  I saw my Life slipping over the edge of that Abyss;  40 years old (age diagnosed), drastic change in being able to Provide for my family, the not knowing if I would be around for all of my Daughters' Big events, to be a "Dirty Old Man" with my Wife (had to put that in here), wondering why and what if about EVERYTHING.

I used to be a very active guy.  Golf, softball, jog on occasion, hard physical work; all were a part of my everyday life.  Over the last few years things got me tired quicker and quicker and breathing was getting difficult when I got into really labor intensive situations.

So, unbeknown to me, my Life as I knew it was ending! 

When Reality hit........... It hit me (and my Entire Family, extended included) Hard and did not pull the Punch!
My youngest brother Mickey passed away 4 days after his 33 birthday.  Three months later I was Diagnosed with Later Stage Emphysema and put on Oxygen 24/7 (for those that don't know 24 hours a day 7 days a week).  Within a week my Sister-in-Law Karen was Diagnosed with an unknown form of Cancer.  She passed away on 29 Dec. 09 (Made it past Christmas for her Boys).

Thank God for my Wife and My Girls!!!............. if not for them I have know idea where I would be right now!

There is so much more to go with this post but I am going to break it here and post it as it is.  I will write more but don't want you to have to read a full book in one sitting.  :)