Tag: gift of life

It seemed routine, just another event in a child’s over-committed schedule. Yet Andrea’s gymnastics meet this morning was hardly that, despite the appearance.

Today marks six weeks and six days since surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Andrea’s surgeon stipulated that she couldn’t return to gymnastics for six weeks following the surgery — which gave her just two practices to prepare for this meet. And she was in good form, considering the limited time to refresh those muscle memories.

Andrea was thrilled to be able to keep a commitment she had made to her team before the surgery, a goal that no doubt helped propel her recovery.

Once again, life has blessed us with an incredible gift, one easily overlooked by the appearance of normalcy. The tumor or the surgery to remove it could certainly have impaired her abilities. Why or why not, we’ll never know. In the words of Gertrude Stein,

“There ain’t no answer. There ain’t going to be any answer. There never has been an answer. That’s the answer.”

All that’s left is to be grateful.

We add to the list deep appreciation to Dick Widhu for his drawings of the young gymnast, which he did for Andrea when he heard of her pending surgery.