I dedicate this blog post to my step-dad Gregory Pugh, who is the only father I’ve known since I was 13 years old. Hang in there Greg. We are ALL pulling for you!
For the past five weeks my life has been a whirlwind. My stepfather Gregory Pugh was hospitalized in order to receive a procedure to get a device implanted to help regulate his heartbeat.
See, Greg actually needs a new heart. And we all know they don’t come along all too often. So the device would help to hold him over until the heart became available and to extend his life in the process. Without going into too much of what led up to the hospitalization, the surgery went well or so we thought!
Greg ended up having to have a second emergency open heart surgery stemming from complications from the first one. Which resulted in difficulties so extreme, he lays in ICU as we speak, heavily sedated and unable to communicate with any of us.
Right now he’s in the intensive care unit at Jefferson hospital and needlesstosay this has been one helluva awful experience for my whole family. *Insert crying, kicking, fainting and a whole lot of sorrow here*
I don’t want to get into everything but it’s been a heck of a lot for my mom to go through. Imagine your husband talking and seems well after surgery one day, only for him to be laying in ICU and heavily sedated the next and doctors telling you they don’t know what’s to come.
So between the crying and worrying and hospital stints my family has found a way to carry on with the little things in life that make us all “normal” and I wanted to share those things with you. Hopefully no one will ever have to go through what my family’s going through but if so, be sure to know it’s OK to laugh and find joy in the midst of your sorrow.
- Do the everyday things: Just yesterday my mom found time to do some grocery shopping. While I could have easily done this for her, I was happy she did it herself. She has been at her wit’s end, at the hospital non-stop and most days spend the night there. So the fact that she took the time to just walk through the food aisles and get her mind on cereal rather than my dad’s sickness, was actually a good thing. When you have someone sick it can and WILL consume you. So we all have to work to stay mentally healthy for ourselves and for that person who is depending on our strength to get through their storm.
- Be Happy – OK, so this one is almost impossible, I know. But it IS possible. My mom found joy when my sister Shanice packed up and moved out. I know, funny right? This was an impromptu “happy” situation that we ended up laughing and laughing about. For a moment her mind was elsewhere and not on whether her husband would make it or not. Although Greg is always on our minds, laughter is great medicine and is helping us get through this difficult time.
- Step Away – When I first saw my dad, I ran out of the hospital room and down the hall, crying and upset. I have also spent the night at the hospital and been there on end with my mom day in and day out. But in the midst of it all I found time to take my kids out for ice cream and to the park just so they wouldn’t get consumed and overwhelmed. We had fun just jumping!
I also took time out on Memorial Day and went with my sister-in-law Simonia to her family’s house. And I had fun. 
I can’t stress enough how important it is to pull away and live NORMALLY even in the midst of troubling times.
Please keep my family in prayer. Know that although we are emotionally all over the place we are finding joy in the morning, noon and nighttime. Thank you to my Facebook friends, and so many of you who have called, prayed, texted, stopped by and just held us up in this fragile moment. Thank you from myself and my whole family.
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