What’s the difference between major surgery and minor surgery? I’m at a special pre-op session led by the hospital physical therapist. I had no idea. Didn’t care. Hospitals aren’t my thing. I just wanted to get this knee replacement over with without breaking stride in my full life. I know. I missed the irony at that moment, but I get it now. I get the punch line to the joke, too. Minor surgery is someone else’s. Major surgery is mine.
My Major Surgery was three weeks ago. By every account it was a success. I’m no longer a short-term resident of La La Land because of the pain medications. Friends and health care folks comment on how well I’m doing. My walker sits on the sidelines, no longer needed. I find it possible to track a thought long enough to tease it into a paragraph.
Now that I’m not quite so immersed in my Major drama, there’s room for a much bigger vantage point, I’m more deeply moved by all the generosity around me: the well-wishers, the cards, the visits and chocolate. I’ve made room within for the life force spun close around me, and I’m blessed by it. Now that my body is recovering and beginning to believe that it can trust the Universe again, I’m able to embrace “minor” events that occurred while I was absorbed in my “major” one. I’m less overwhelmed by my surroundings and way more interested in the world around me. There’s room inside for everything from sobering world events to holiday merriment.
More than ever before I’m bathed in deep respect for the suffering endured by loved ones and strangers, as they try to make the world around them a little kinder. My heart is cracked open when I think of those who step up and do what is theirs to do, whether it’s miss Christmas with family to fight Ebola or stand together during personal or community tragedy to keep Hope alive. Just today I learned that a loved one will be given the support he needs to find housing out of the rain and wind this winter. The faces of those who have made this possible for him are the ones I collect in my personal bundle of Major League Heroes. They find ways to give my brothers and sisters shelter from the storm. That is Major.
