I recently learned that one of Florida's many nicknames (Sunshine state, The Orange State, the Everglade State, etc.) is "God's Waiting Room," a fitting reference to all the retirement villages and retirement-age population in Florida. Of all the places in the world, the hospital waiting room has to be one of the more representative/symbolic.....you're just waiting there on news of a loved one who is being attended to, and it feels like life is hanging in the balance.
I've never had surgeries or needed any extended visits to a hospital (I guess since I was born), the only things being to see dermatologists, orthodontists, dentists, and ear doctors (for earwax issues!) so I've been lucky enough not to need anyone to be in the waiting room waiting for me, but I've been in the waiting room awaiting news for a loved one plenty of times, including today. It's different for a non-life-threatening issue, but still it's a bit of a nerve-racking experience, seeing one's loved one wheeled out on a hospital bed to an unknown destination (presumably the operating room for surgery but I've never been inside an actual one!) and feeling helpless to help. I tried to keep my mind busy with plenty of books and my laptop to do work, but it's hard not to have worries related to why you're there, thinking of worst-case scenarios, and nowadays anxiously looking at one's phone to see if there are any updates through text about how the surgery is going.
The waiting room itself is usually pretty crowded, full of other patients whose loved ones are in a similar position, everyone a little on edge as no one can be totally comfortable, and everyone would much rather be at home enjoying themselves than enduring a visit to a hospital, not to mention a unit that blocks off visitors from access to the main unit where the hospital beds are. Most people are there with their family members, but a few unlucky ones have come by themselves to get called to the back, like drawing the unlucky genetic straw or being afflicted with some unfortunate malady that has called them forth, a reverse lottery win (a $2.09 billion Power Ball lottery was just taken down by someone in the SoCal area, lucky guy/gal!). It must be pretty daunting to face the prospect of surgery or some other medical issue alone, and emotional support is pretty important, so in that sense the waiting room reflects a system of love and support, but on a more practical level the people there to give the patient a ride home after their visit.
One of the most tenuous moments was when my Mom went in for tumor-removing surgery last year, and to prepare for the worst the family had gathered around and discussed wills, funds, in the event of the unexpected. That's when it becomes very real, and the waiting room becomes a pressure cooker of really hoping nothing bad happens, but feeling helpless because it's all out of one's hands. We can live our lives to the fullest all other times, but when we're in the waiting room the realization of how fragile we are and how tenuous life is comes crashing down like a ton of bricks.
So it's not just Florida, we humans are all in a proverbial God's waiting room of sorts- just waiting for that time when God (or whoever it is responsible for us all) doesn't allow us to put it off anymore. Until then, here's hoping for more successful (but less frequent) hospital and waiting room trips.
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