tricia reminds me what i'm working to recover

Sister Tricia with whom i lived and trained prior to the marathon and who was with me in the ambulance to the emergency room, promising that she would not leave my side(she didn't) and who therfore endured a harrowing night processing and disseminating frightening information from the doctors to family members via cell phone and txt messages- even after waking at 5 am and running a marathon herself. She spent the night by my side until decision was made to transfer me to the ICU of Loyola where the expectation was that I would receive better, more enlightened care - inspite of the warnings of med staff at the emergency room of significant risks of moving me while I was in such a precarious state - concern was swelling of brain and possibility that "vital" functions such as breathing were at risk. Under the circumstances and knowing that mom and dad would be on a plane, as i was placed on respirator in preparation to transport me to Loyola's ICU, Tricia arranged to have a priest visit with me before the ride from the emergency room toLloyola Once I was safely transported, removed from ventilator and deemed out of immediate risk Tricia flew back to Austin and a few days after returning to Austin Tricia sent the following reminder by email- in response to an email I had forwarded to her received from old running friend who had emailed me to tell me how I had always been an inspiration to him tricia's reply:

that's a great email. It's amazing the way you have
touched and influenced people John.

I sent you a letter today, nothing important, just
chit chat, but there's something I forgot to put in
there that I've been thinking....

You obviously know that all this sucks. One thing that
makes me happy is how much you appreciate things. It
somehow makes it okay to say that things suck when
they do. You were always saying that life was good,
you loved the sunset, the temp of the water, the sound
of music outdoors, that this was the good life. It's
good that you see things for what they are.

Things are going to suck for awhile, but that's okay.
You know you can do the hard work and you'll be back
here soon Johnnie, living the good life.

I miss you so.

Patricia


Recalling how tired, frustrated, and scared I was at the time
i can't emphasize enough how significant a source of inspiration it was
to me to read these and subsequent emails from siblings that reminded
me of exactly what was at stake and that my recovery meant so much to so many.
And to think, Tricia said that her letter did not contain "anything important." Let that
be a lesson to us all: you never know, when a simple act of kindness or expression
of affection can make a huge difference to someone who's at the end of their rope,
or down to one last nerve and it's frayed and raw.