Life lessons of the Bryce Repair Job

Man, it sure is quiet and lonely here now without Bryce and Joan. Wonder what I will do today.

Oh, wait, it isn’t quite 8 a.m. and I don’t even think they have left town yet.

Anyway, this may be the final chapter in the Bryce Repair Job blog. The Bostocks are heading home to B.C. this morning. The boy landed in Calgary September 4 seriously broken following an accident and now he has been repaired. All is good.

I think an event like this, which hopefully most of us won’t have to deal with in life, just fractures a family’s sense of well being right to the core. I don’t think I have ever seen four people so anxious to get back to the same, old, boring routine of home life – a place where they can get up in the morning and go to bed at night knowing that all is reasonably right in their world.

It is that closing scene from The Waltons, for those old enough to remember that TV series. A nighttime picture of a quiet farmhouse, and the voices in the dark… “Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Momma, Good night Mary Ellen, Goodnight John Boy….” And then the light goes out. As corny as it was, that is the peace we all long for in our daily lives – to turn that light out at the end of the day with peace of mind. 

So there must be some life lessons from this Bryce Repair story:

1. A head is not harder than a rock.
2. Best friends are lifesavers in so many ways.
3. The health care system does work when you need it.
4. Never underestimate the power of prayer and positive thinking.
5. When the chips are down, family and friends come out of the woodwork.
6. The green paste on a hospital meal tray may not be real food.
7. Even a short walk in the sunshine and fresh air is a wonderful thing.
8. Ice cream is good – especially a Marble Slab waffle cone covered in candy sprinkles. (But nine bucks, who knew?).
9. It is amazing how smart and capable some16-year-olds are, if you just take the time to listen.
10. The road home sometimes seems long, but it is fantastic once you get there.

If I have one tiny but important criticism we all can learn from – don’t ever delay in playing your Ace sympathy card. If Bryce had been on the ball that first week of recovery I’m sure he could have whispered through the tubes and bandages, “Mom, Dad, I would really feel a lot better if I had a new truck” and bam, there would have been a new pickup waiting for him in the hospital parking lot. But, no, he dawdled and now I fear that window of opportunity has closed. He’ll be lucky to get a Happy Meal at McDonalds in Canmore on the way home today.

One other lesson that could be added to the list – on those days when you have a kid, or a spouse, or friend who is important in your life, bugging the hell out of you, and you could just throttle them, take a moment to dig down deep somewhere and appreciate the fact they are still there, even if they are driving you nuts.

Lee Hart is a long time blogger and social media guru who can be reached at lee@fbcpublishing.com

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