Tag: life

Avoiding Reality

A while ago, I went with my parents to an appointment with an estate planning attorney. We’ve been pushing them to get a new will and legal documents since they moved to Pennsylvania, but it never seemed to be a priority.

Over the last year, though, both of my parents have continued to struggle with health issues and it has only gotten worse. While their nest egg wasn’t substantial, they had specific wishes for what to do with their estate and it wasn’t enough to just tell me what they were.

As I sat in the lawyer’s office and listened to his questions, I thought about our plan. Or rather, our lack of a plan. The extent of our planning is adding beneficiaries to our accounts, which is a) not a plan and b) not enough. If either my wife or I pass away, the other can manage to keep things going. However, the elephant in the room is what happens when both of us are gone and, more importantly, what happens if that happens when my son is young or if he’s not able to be on his own.

A few years ago, I started to write a post by jotting down what was in my head:

  • I know he is going to get older.
  • I don’t want him to.
  • I want him to stay this age.
  • I want him to be able to stay with us.
  • I want to be able to take care of him.
  • I don’t want him to have to face the world.
  • I don’t want him to have to take care of himself.
  • I don’t want him to have that burden.
  • I don’t want him to fail at it and to have a hard life.
  • I have to set him up to do it himself.
  • I have to put in a safety net.
  • But I’m not going to be here forever.
  • I’d fail him if I pretended he wouldn’t get older, or didn’t do anything because I didn’t think he would get older or because I don’t want him to get older.

There is a lot to unpack there, but the thoughts and questions I had years ago are still relevant today. Each year, I’ve thought “this is is shaping up to be the year we get things under control.” However, each year ended with the same questions remaining unanswered.

Who will take care of him if he is still a minor? At one point, we had a plan there, but it’s been too long and so many years that the family who would have taken him is no longer viable.

How will he make a living? What if he isn’t able to work or generate an income? What if the only money he will have is what we can leave him? I make a good living, but there are a lot of expenses that come with any medical condition, both normal living and trying to have a good life, medical expenses, educational expenses, and other things that chip away at the nest egg.

Facing these concerns and answering these questions is the only way we can realistically try to secure the future we want for our son. But being realistic means accepting and facing reality, which is not a trait I am always known for, especially when it comes to my son’s future. There is always a reason to put it off. There is always “one more thing” we want to do to get everything in order before we talk to someone. The result is another year without a plan, which is such a disservice to him.

It’s time to do different.

Unnatural Times

Every morning, I like to sit near the window of our condo and look out on to the streets of Philadelphia. I watch as the empty sidewalks start to fill with people. The roads fill up with cars. Food carts appear on street corners. Lights turn on in the office buildings. Mornings are when the city wakes up.

Usually, on weekends, the process is a bit slower. It takes longer for the sidewalks and the street to fill. But eventually, they do, and the city finally comes to life. Not lately, though. There aren’t as many people. There are fewer cars. And not as many lights in the office buildings are turning on.  Now when I look out the window, the city hasn’t been waking up. It’s a perpetual Sunday morning that lasts all day, every day.

Being stuck inside the house is unnatural. We aren’t used to the confinement. We are social creatures and miss those connections and contact with the outside world. Our bodies and our minds start to panic, which is only exacerbated by the fear and uncertainty of the spreading virus. It’s unnatural, but, for me, it also feels familiar.

A few years ago, my son was in a bad state. He was still seizing a lot, and the angry side effects of the medicine he was on came out as rage. He was isolated at home without social contact; no school, no friends, no playdates. My wife stayed home with him, equally isolated. A similar fear and uncertainty blanketed our lives, not knowing how long these conditions would last or, worse, whether they would ever change. Maybe that was going to be our life now, forever.

We couldn’t plan anything. We couldn’t really go anywhere. So we lived in a dark apartment, watching the city through our front window, hoping for something to change. That lasted for more than a year. Eventually, we found better medication and a nanny to help. We got therapy and found our way back to each other. But it was an agonizing and traumatic time, and our current isolation is triggering those painful memories.

Before “social distancing”, things had been better. My son was going to school for half days, but every day this year, which he couldn’t do before. He made a few real friends. We were looking forward to baseball season, bike rides, and summer. But now we find ourselves, along with the rest of the world, wondering what comes next.

It feels like another test of our strength and capacity to adapt to another “new normal.” Fortunately, we’re starting from a better place. My son is doing better. Our family is stronger. And we know that because we made it to the other side of those dark days years ago that we can make it through these challenges, too.

These are unnatural times. But as parents of children with epilepsy, we are no strangers to unnatural times. Hang in there. Remember to be kind to each other. Remember to make room for yourself. And we will make it through together.

The In-Between

We were in Colorado recently and saw some friends we haven’t seen in over a year. The school year has also started, and we’re seeing parents and children that we haven’t seen all summer. In both cases, people are seeing our lives at specific points in time. They’re seeing us then and now, but they don’t see us in the in-between.

The in-between is where the highs and the lows are. It’s where the daily struggles of living with epilepsy are visible. It’s where the seizures feel like they never end. It’s where there are long stretches of days that seem impossible and where sometimes hope is lost.

The in-between is also where small accomplishments seem enormous and where incremental progress seems like leaps and bounds. It’s where not going backward is sometimes as good as moving forward. It’s where a baseball game feels like the World Series and where climbing a rock wall feels like summiting Everest.

The in-between is where every challenge and victory brings us closer together as a family. It’s where we shape our perspective. And it’s where our actions and how we approach the world shows how far we’ve come.

The in-between is where we live. The in-between is our every day.