The Missed Weekend

Beginning today, there will be Weekly Whispers, which will be published each Tuesday.

We try to go to one college football game each year.
My college didn’t have a football team.
So the one game we go to each year is my husband’s college football team.
We usually go in October and we typically drive.

This year; however, the game was in Atlanta.
It was a home game at Georgia Tech, my husband’s Alma Mater.
The game was their Homecoming game.
Many festivities were planned.

My husband was in a fraternity in college.
When we go to these games, we are with his fraternity brothers.
Their friendships have lasted over forty years.
It has been so wonderful to stay connected.

I had not been back to Atlanta since the Olympics in 1996.
Our youngest daughter was born eight months before.
We brought all five children, and they loved every minute of the games and the fanfare.
My husband carried our infant daughter in a backpack all over Atlanta.

I was planning what I would bring on this trip.
We knew the itinerary, since one of his fraternity brothers is a great organizer.
Another fraternity brother owns a well known restaurant in Atlanta.
All forty of us were to have a special dinner there on the night we arrived.

The week before we were to leave, my allergies were awful.
That is not a problem for most people but my ears are always affected.
Flying on an airplane is never great for my ears even on a good day.
However, when my allergies are bad, flying is very painful.

I went to an ENT doctor last year and was told that I have short Eustachian tubes.
When children get ear infections, their short tubes are part of the problem.
Here I am, an adult, a mother and grandmother, and I have the same issue.
I was told that the “solution” was to get tubes put in my ears.

I do not want to do that at my age, since tubes routinely fall out.
I followed the protocol for flying but nothing seemed to be working.
We were getting closer and closer to the weekend.
I did not know what to do.

I had so many people praying.
The pain was in my ears and areas on my face.
I admit that I was truly afraid to fly, because of the way I was feeling.
I packed my suitcase the night before but still felt uneasy.

Our entire family went to Ireland eight years ago.
It was before anyone was married.
We were celebrating three graduations in our family that year.
Graduation from law school, college, and high school all happened in a two week period.

We flew to Dublin and it took two days for my ears to pop.
My children teased me before they realized the pain was indeed real.
Flying home, it took five days and a doctor’s visit to get my ears back to normal.
Needless to say, you don’t forget something like that, which made me afraid this time.

I woke up the morning we were to leave and had no relief.
The flying protocol was not working.
It didn’t help that the entire week before was rainy with low barometric pressure.
My husband said that maybe the change of location would be good for me.

I literally could not make myself walk out the door.
I was praying against fear, since I didn’t want that to be the reason I stayed home.
Jesus often said, It is I. Do not be afraid.
Translated literally, Jesus said: I am. No fear, which I prayed over and over.

My husband put our suitcases in the car.
The tears were very close in my eyes.
I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t want to disappoint my husband.
I can’t go, I told him holding back the tears.

He knew how I had been feeling.
He knew that I would never change plans at the last minute like this without reason.
I’ll get your suitcase out of the car, he said.
I knew I made the right decision but it was such a hard decision to make.

As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
(1 Corinthians 12:20-26)

Short Eustachian tubes can cause a lot of pain and problems.
One little part, that is virtually unseen, can wreak havoc.
One unseen part demands attention.
So it is with us.

We are His Body and we all play a part.
There are no insignificant parts; we each have a vital role to play.
If one part hurts, the rest of the body hurts with it.
I think I understand this truth now more than ever.

I missed a wonderful weekend with my husband but got a lot of rest at home.
I changed the “protocol” to help my ears and it seems to be working.
I have an appointment with an allergist in a month and a half.
To my husband’s delight, Georgia Tech won the game in overtime.