Last night I picked Paul up from the airport after a 3-day Y-90 seminar in San Diego. We went to a new (delicious) Indian restaurant, and I asked how the seminar went - if he felt it helpful, how he would be able to apply it to his work, etc. He started to explain to me what Y-90 actually is, how it works, and how he uses it to help people with liver cancer and other ailments. As he excitedly explained it to me, and showed me a new app that helps him properly determine dosage for his patients, I was suddenly reminded of how smart my husband is. He has spent the last 10 years of his life attaining a very specific skill set of knowledge. He actually understands the science behind radiation treatments, MRI technology, the inner workings of the human body, and can look at white/gray/black images and tell you what is the matter with somebody.
I was reminded of when I met him at BYU, back in 2004. I remember one of the first times talking with him, I told him I was a humanities major with an English emphasis. He opened a discussion on classic literature, and I quickly realized that the astrophysics major, math minor, pre-med guy in front of me was more well-read than I was! It was intimidating at first, but I soon fell in love with him and admired his great brain.
That admiration came rushing back to me last night as he sat across the table, attempting to explain a very complicated topic to his not-so-scientifically-minded-wife. I realized that through this decade-long medical journey we have been taking, he really has become expert at something. I sometimes forget, in the busy-ness that is my life of homeschooling, housework, and kids, that he almost lives another life at the hospital. For Hippa reasons, I never am able to see him at work, so it is sometimes even hard for me to imagine how he actually spends 60 hours every week. I sat there in awe of this extraordinary man who has worked so hard to learn something he loves.
Now, I don't write all this to brag about him, although I do think he's pretty great. I write to remind myself, and anyone else who might be reading, to stop for a minute. Take a look around at the people closest to you. At the people who you see day in and out, who you are with so much that you aren't able to see the changes happening in them. At those who you may take for granted. At someone you might not even take into consideration. At yourself. Take a second look at them and see something extraordinary in them. What makes them stand out to you? What makes them special? I know you’ll find something. I know it will be there. It is in all of us.
That admiration came rushing back to me last night as he sat across the table, attempting to explain a very complicated topic to his not-so-scientifically-minded-wife. I realized that through this decade-long medical journey we have been taking, he really has become expert at something. I sometimes forget, in the busy-ness that is my life of homeschooling, housework, and kids, that he almost lives another life at the hospital. For Hippa reasons, I never am able to see him at work, so it is sometimes even hard for me to imagine how he actually spends 60 hours every week. I sat there in awe of this extraordinary man who has worked so hard to learn something he loves.
Now, I don't write all this to brag about him, although I do think he's pretty great. I write to remind myself, and anyone else who might be reading, to stop for a minute. Take a look around at the people closest to you. At the people who you see day in and out, who you are with so much that you aren't able to see the changes happening in them. At those who you may take for granted. At someone you might not even take into consideration. At yourself. Take a second look at them and see something extraordinary in them. What makes them stand out to you? What makes them special? I know you’ll find something. I know it will be there. It is in all of us.
1 comment:
This is so sweet! And also a good point! It is weird how separate a married couple's life is -- well not everybody but ours too. Sometimes you live parallel with each other without even realizing the changes that are happening! Love this!
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