Kind (Self) Regards: Did you miss me?

... Because last month I was spending my time at the hospital with my mom – and believe me, I could go on about that for quite a while.  Suffice it to say, it scared me on any number of levels, including the realization that if you go into the hospital by yourself – which is my likely scenario since I have no children to stand by my bed – who knows what the outcome will be.  You know, I much preferred it when I was an innocent who believed in the ultimate powers of people like doctors.  But then you read that they’re all playing Angry Birds or bidding on Ebay during surgery and you really have to wonder…

I did have a nice ride up front with the ambulance driver who is a hedge fund manager during the day, and got to chat with the policeman who had previously given me a ticket for exceeding the 30 mile per hour speed limit in Pound Ridge. (“That’s what keeps us such a great town,” he told me though on two recent trips to my morning yoga class he was conspicuously absent as I was passed on a double yellow line by cars well exceeding that speed limit.)

One of my favorite hospital facts is that patients are now evidently expected to pick up the phone and order their own meals.  Including those who are so sick they don’t feel like eating anything.  I guess this is supposed to make them feel like they’re at a spa instead of a hospital, but how you can make that leap when you’re hooked up to IV tubes and oxygen is beyond my comprehension. 

And yet, despite the best efforts of the medical community to the contrary, my mom recovered and is back at her home.  Life returns to what we previously called normal, giving me the opportunity to once again think about what’s what. 

I realize that I am yearning for some light and life – because even though the temperature has been unseasonably mild, it has been a cold winter for me.  We are fortunate to live in a land of plenty, but it is not always a land of easy. There are things other than the weather that can bring a chill to your heart.  But now, as the days grow lighter, we move on knowing that the first chorus of peepers will soon announce the arrival of Spring once again.  

Vicki Wray lives in North Stamford, and until recently spent most of her waking hours in New York City as a corporate communications executive. Working for companies like Pfizer, Revlon and AOL Time Warner has allowed her to meet wonderful colleagues and a slew of interesting personalities including the president of the United States, supermodels and star athletes, famous artists and a Justice of the Supreme Court. She is a natural observer, type A personality, and a life-long "spa junkie". Vicki firmly believes in the health benefits of being kind to oneself; taking a moment to breath, relax and finding simple joy in our every day existence.

Her column, Kind (self) Regards, will be a regular feature of the Aetheria Spa blog. If you enjoy her point of view, or would like to share your ideas, please contact her at vicki@aetheriaspa.com.