The blessings of friendship

When I was in the hospital last week I had so many visits from wonderful friends. When you're in the hospital it can get so lonely! Luckily, my mom spends all day with me in the hospital, and my younger sister Chandra comes in the evenings so that my mom can go home relatively early in the evening so that she can go home and take care of a few things, and most importantly get a good night's sleep. I'm so grateful for my mom and Chandra because the hospital stay would be miserable without my advocate (my mom) and someone to be there to help keep me company. I'm always grateful for visits from friends and loved ones. It helps cheer me up and make a very abnormal situation a little more normal.

Last week my friend Karma brought a beautiful bouquet of daisies to the hospital for me. They were dyed the most beautiful colors: bright pinks, yellows, greens, blues and purples. I love flowers, but sadly you aren't allowed to have real flowers in the ICU because they can spread bacteria. My daisies had to stay out on the nurse's desk, but I had a great view of them out my door. Everyone who walked by literally "stopped to smell the daisies," and I couldn't blame them for stopping to admire my flowers. The only thing that bothered me was when people would touch the actual flower, because that's bad for flowers, and I wanted my bouquet to stay as fresh as possible so that I could hopefully enjoy them when I went home.

When my mom left for home that day I had her take my flowers home where they would be safe! I also got some beautiful yellow chrysanthemums and a balloon from my friend Katherine. I received these flowers on the afternoon that I was leaving the hospital, so I took them home with me and I've been enjoying both bouquets ever since. Here are a few pictures of my beautiful daisies and chrysanthemums (although the pictures don't make them look near as pretty as they are in person):

My mom and I also had visitors from different women at our church. I enjoyed this a lot, and I know that my mom really enjoyed these visits as well because it helped break up the monotony of the day. I'm so glad that I have wonderful friends and family that I can call on when I need help -- it's a great feeling!.