Surviving with Scars

One night, a couple of  years ago, I met a young woman. She sat across the table from me at a restaurant. Her mother was a professor at my daughter's college and her family had joined us for dinner.  Sometimes there is a connection that just can't be explained.  I looked at her and I knew that I knew her soul and that she knew mine.  In the course of our conversation, I tried to discover what the connection was.  It didn't take me long.

She was only in her early thirties, but she had already survived a near-fatal car crash, a near-fatal illness, and a host of complications from both.  She had a beautiful face, but as she showed me the faint scars where her face had been patched back together, I could see then that she was even more beautiful than I had realized. She shared with me that she was writing her story and the stories of other survivors.  I was sure we would stay friends then.  Although on the outside, we looked nothing alike, I felt like I was looking into a mirror.

I recently saw a post she made on Facebook saying that she was going into the hospital again to have her pacemaker battery changed.  I thought, only old people should have pacemakers.  She came home in time for the holidays, but now she is back in the hospital again.  An infection developed in the area where the new battery was placed in her heart.  She needed to have another operation so that they could move the pacemaker to a new location.

I was not surprised to see her post this morning saying that her nurse had taken a special interest in her, after all, she is a very special person.  But the message that her nurse had left for her after her operation was also special, so special that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could.  This young woman may be an idol to many, but she is also a daughter to two wonderful people.  Her story may inspire many, but she is just a young woman who has learned to live through dying.  Her life and story may be special to many, but I am just happy to say she is my friend, Miranda.