I was reminded last night about the power or impact of anniversaries. 

No…not mine. Mine is…let me think…sometime in the Dark Ages. 🙂 Actually it is June 16, 1973. 

No…this one was Tami’s. Not a wedding. Not a job change. Not moving back to Indiana after teaching in Knoxville for 15 years. This anniversary is much more dubious. As she reminded me: “Dad, do you know what tomorrow is?” I said, “Yes, Monday, October 13th.” “Do you know what anniversary it is?” “Let’s see, tomorrow is Columbus Day.” “True, but no.” “I don’t remember anything happening that was earth-shattering in the church or country. Guess I’m going to have say, ‘I have no clue.'” 

“Four years ago I had my heart attack.” Ouch! Four years ago our 46 year old daughter had a heart attack. It is called a SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection). A SCAD is a tear in the wall of a coronary artery that can block blood flow to the heart and cause a heart attack, often in people who are otherwise healthy and have no traditional heart disease risk factors like high cholesterol. It requires immediate medical attention. A spontaneous tear occurs in the inner layers of a coronary artery wall. It is sort of like an unraveling of the inner layers. It forms a hematoma that leads to symptoms like:

• Chest pain, pressure, tightness, or heaviness
• Pain in the arms, shoulders, jaw, neck, back, or stomach
• Rapid heartbeat
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Sweating

Tami was at school teaching Kindergarten students like always. (Stressful). That day was picture day. (Stressful). She had been dealing with post-COVID symptoms like food tasting and smelling weird. She was leaving for school in the dark and coming home in the dark. She was living by herself and had virtually no friends due to her schedule. She had her mom and me but, you know…we were her parents. 🙂 We got a call from her at school saying she needed to go to the hospital. The nurse told her she may be having a heart attack. She was spot on. 

I’ll not go into any more details except to say the next few days were spent in the hospital ER and then in a room waiting while she had tests done. The details of life since are not essential to tell except she was no longer allowed to climb the 25 steps to her apartment so she moved in with us. Due to a lack of (affordable) rentals here in town, she still lives with us. I don’t mind. Yes, I would like to make some changes but, she has been a joy to have there. As we age, her presence will be even more important. 

I thank God for sparing her life. I know mine would have been much poorer without her.