Having to Let Go 🥀

I had a friend… back in my younger years… it was the early 80’s… she lived in a little town just to the south of where I did… so we had went to different schools... and in reality… it was almost like… we lived in two different worlds…

But over the years growing up… our friendship had grown strong… and we went out on a few dates… but nothing ever came from it… because we were always much better… just as friends…

                                 ~~🥀~~

I was working one day… when I got the news… there had been an terrible accident… and she was hurt… so as soon as I got off work… I went straight to the hospital…

Her mom and dad were there… her brother had been injured as well… but not quite as bad… so distraught doesn’t come close to describing the situation… and both had been in surgery for several hours at that time… but there wasn’t an update yet…

I sat down with her mom for a bit… she told me they had been out riding… her brother had just gotten a new motorcycle… and he took her out for the first ride… they were traveling down the back roads just outside of town… when they apparently hit some gravel that had washed out across the pavement… and as they leaned into a curve… he lost control… sliding off into a deep ravine…

Her brother was hurt pretty badly… knocked out… with a few broken bones… cuts and bruises… but she was so much worse… with some deep cuts to her legs and stomach area… and luckily… she had landed on the other side of the ditch with her feet lying up hill… because that’s what kept the blood running to her head… and ultimately… that’s what saved her life…

She was in surgery for almost 12 hours that night… so I didn’t get to see her for the first two days… but her mom and dad were there in the ICU the whole time… I was there almost every day… after work… and even on my days off… I would go to the hospital and just set there… giving her mom a break… just to let her take care of herself… and allow her to go home and get some rest…

I’d set there for hours… sometimes late into the night… just holding her hand… and talking to her… praying that she would be alright… she was heavily sedated for a little over a week… but they had finally removed the tubes… just waiting for her to respond… but she was still out for a few more days after that…

I was there the day she woke up… we didn’t know what to expect… so her mom had went down to get something to eat… and that’s when… I suddenly felt her tightening up… and just as her eyes opened up… she was screaming… squeezing my hand so tightly…

The nurses came running in… telling me to leave… but I couldn’t… I wasn’t gonna let her go… and they were trying so hard to calm her down… but when she looked over to see who was holding her hand… that’s all it took… she began squeezing harder… almost pulling me out of the chair… and within seconds… that’s when her mom came running in… and to say the least… chaos ensued… as her mom quickly took my place… letting me know in no uncertain terms… it was time for me to go home…

My heart was torn… just watching her in her in so much pain… but at least she knew I was there… if only for that minute…

Every day was a challenge… she had over 150 staples from the center of her heart… all the way down to both knees… not to mention the rods and pins they had put in… she was in the hospital for a couple of months…

She had so much damage… but she seem to be recovering pretty well… so when they finally sent her home… I went down there several times that first week… just to sit with her… trying to comfort her… keeping her company… and on the edge of laughter… (which kinda sounds cruel…)

But to my surprise… it was on a Sunday… her mom caught me outside… asking me very politely… not to come in… and that she had asked her to help keep me away…. and it absolutely broke my heart when she said that… but she explained… that she was in so much pain from the accident… that every time she seen me… it reminded her of being in the hospital… and she truly didn’t want me to see her go through the rehab… which we knew… was just as bad… so I always had to call first… before I went after that…

I began losing my friend that day… even though we had seen each other… many times after that… it was never the same… she was so self conscious about all of the scars… not wanting anyone to see… getting to where… she wouldn’t even leave the house… and eventually… I found I wasn’t welcome there anymore… so I had to stop visiting…

I’d just call her instead… it seemed to be better that way… we would still talk for hours… just like it was old times… but eventually… she just didn’t want to talk anymore…

                                 ~~🥀~~

Sometimes in life… accidents happen… and there’s not one thing we can do about it… but have faith… that in time… the pain will fade…

And though you love someone so much… we sometimes… have to let them go… just moving on… for what’s meant to be… will be…

         True Friendships are Made to Last…

               and never to die…

                        but that doesn’t mean…

                   They Can’t Disappear…

                                 ~~🥀~~

                                     ~ Daniel Crews ~

                                  September 12, 2023

Posted:  October 2, 2023

Written by: Daniel Crews

#dcnoteoftheday #dcrewswritings #truelife #lifes_toll #friendship #pain