Sunny and a Heavenly Place.

   I write this with a sad and heavy heart, as I’ve recently learned that Sunny, my former patient that I am doing my Ironman this year for, has passed away. I am at a loss for words. It’s not too often that I let myself get too attached to a patient. My job as a therapist is to help them in their time of need, to be just a passing person in their lives, and move on. I’m not permanent in their lives. Most of the time, I meet them when they are at their weakest, their worst moments of their lives, the moments they wish to forget.  So I try to help them cope as best they can, teach them what I can to help them get back to their lives as normal as possible, and then, disappear from their life.

     I’m not sure exactly why Sunny’s small moment in my life touched me so. Maybe it’s because she and I had some common bonds. One being she just hiked the Grand Canyon from Phantom Ranch back up to the top of the South Rim. Maybe it was her first triathlon that she did, in open water in Carlsbad with her dtr.  Open water swims scare me, and the fact that that was her first, I was in awe of her!  Maybe she reminded me a lot of my mother, and how it could have been her.  Maybe it was that awesome blue and purple polka dot Mohawk she first had when I met her. Maybe it was her beautiful smile, her amazing attitude that she had even in the face of the knowing the ultimate outcome of her prognosis. I was honored to share some special moments with her during our time together during therapy. I was honored that she, her husband, and dtr allowed me to talk about her and get permission to put her name on my bike so she could do her “Ironman”.  Maybe she reminds me a little of me, and how life is precious, and you can’t waste it. How you can’t let certain things in life control you and take away your spirit. How you need to live life to its fullest, because you never really know when it will all be taken away. That I’m learning more of these days.

What makes me happy is that she was able to find the love of her life in Steven. The time I got to spend with her just a few weeks ago, I got to see a love that was so pure between a husband and a wife. A husband that fought to the end to make her happy and comfortable.  As I sat and enjoyed dinner with her and her husband, they shared stories about their life together, and that she was going to get to see her first grandchild very soon.   That makes me happy to know that she lived a full life. Maybe not as full as she deserved and should of gottn, but she lived it to the fullest that she possibly could, and didn’t let it take away her spirit.

I’m honored that I got a chance to know her, I’m sad that I won’t get to visit her again when I return home from Billings. But, I am now even more determined to make sure I take Sunny with me on her first Ironman!!