Having family go through that kind of stuff hurts in a very different way than oneself going through it. I was and luckily still am always the healthy one, and thankfully Crohn's disease is not on our family list. Years in the hospital, yeah, that we did have. We sometimes joke about it, in a way that only family can: "Oh, another brain surgery, well, Tuesday, right?" "If it's worse than your last one, dad, you won't have to worry anymore. Ever." Dark humor to make the preoccupation be easier to handle. Suffering was always present, and death always a possibility - and sometimes, when the suffering was hard to bear, we talked about when life isn't worth living anymore.
It never got to that, luckily. Until now, we've always been able to find what's worth living for, over and over again. Like jumping into the lake, no matter what others might think. I'm so happy that he found someone loving him. You both. Not everyone can handle that kind of baggage.
Exactly! It's easier to joke about it than feel sorry for ourselves. Life is still worth living. No matter if we're sick or healthy… our life is definitely not boring. And we have a lot to write about. 😉 There are people who are much sicker than us, and they are living life to the fullest, and that's what matters.