Significant verses Insignificant

[pumpkinpie]

The last two weekends in a row, my normally quiet neighbors who are in their 60's have been, I thought, having partys on the weekends. There daughter, her husband, and there grandaughter (who is around my daughter's age), along with several of there other relatives have been outside until the wee hours in the night, and being louder than ever. My bedroom window is right by there back yard, so I keep having to move to the couch to sleep. This had been really irritating me. I mentioned to my husband, "The whole moron clan is over there again tonight, I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch, since there so loud at night." I come home from work at 9:30pm the other night to find my daughter, who is almost 4, in the neighbors yard partying with the neighbors, since they have a little grandaughter my daughter's age. In the midst of rolling my eyes about the whole thing, and bringing my daughter inside to get her ready for bed, my husband says to me, "The neighbor's daughter told me tonight that her mother, (who is our neighbor), has lung cancer and is getting operated on Tuesday, and that's why they've all been staying over there at night so often. My heart sank. My mind set....changed. Lung cancer, I knew those words well. I suddenly smelled insect repelant on my daughter, and noticed she had a popsicle in her hand. She told me our neighbor gave that to her, and that she put bug-spray on her that night so she wouldn't get bit up, while playing outside. And to think, one moment before, I was thinking about noises, and how I was irritated by them lately because they were keeping me up.

It's so easy to forget, because life is ok for awhile. The people we know, and see all the time, and love are healthy, and we just take that for granted. Then within the blink of an eye, it all changes, and you remember the harsh reality of life, and wonder how you could have ever worried about petty things.