Articles
BJ: 'Bringing A Little Sunshine'
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- Published on 25 June 2012
- Written by B.J. Fictum
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“You will bring sunshine to someone else’s life.”
When I read fortunes in fortune cookies, I usually laugh or give a wry smile, thinking something like, “Gee, this is sure right” or “That’s not anything like I would think.” This time, I stopped and thought about who has brought sunshine into my life, especially the past five years while I’ve been fighting this diabetic Charcot Foot malady.
In case you didn’t know, on May 8, I joined the hundreds of thousands who are amputees. Psychologically, it wasn’t a tough decision to make — I could not disagree with the logic of not wasting another year trying to rebuild the foot a third time with a predicted 50-percent-or-less eventual success rate.
Doctors, nurses, surgeons and other health professionals have spent almost five years trying to save my left foot, but their attempts were eventually thwarted by the most common of common diseases — diabetes. They also handled other maladies, including congestive heart failure, renal failure and a DVT.
Every person knows someone who has the disease in one of its two forms. My first exposure to Type I diabetes came when Lloyd and Trudy Reeves first employed me in July 1988. The former publishers of this newspaper brought sunshine to more people than I can count (and I can count pretty high), but more about that in the next installment.
Now back to the story.
Public safety volunteers and professionals — the fire, rescue, law enforcement and emergency management communities — give of themselves every day without thought, whether it’s a ride in the rescue squad, or emails, cards and phone calls wishing for a speedy recovery. And I am not the only person to experience those good fortunes.
Perhaps among the most caring are the educators and their connections — athletes, parents, grandparents and the ilk. They are just as dedicated as the emergency response community and show their concern in many of the same ways. The same applies to the media (with acknowledgement to Jane, Jim, The Trib, Tim, Bill and the other news folks), the mostly unsung sunshine heroes.
And finally is immediate family. This is where it becomes personal. From traipsing over hill and dale for visits and transportation requests to the short notices before needing a way to the doctor or a meeting, it makes no difference. That’s giving intense sunshine.
The moral? Be grateful for what you have and who you know, no matter what the situation. You could always be without.
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BJ Fictum is Regional Editor of The Crete News and can be contacted at (402) 826-7200 or via e-mail at < This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. >.