My mom and I were talking about beginnings today. My dear brother, Tom, recently had surgery in response to his lifelong battle with Crohn's disease. Crohn's is an ongoing disorder than causes inflammation in the digestive tract. No cure is yet available. Throughout the years I have witnessed Tom going through various stages of not being able to eat certain things without throwing up. Sometimes it didn't matter what he ate: he threw everything up. For weeks at a time my brother suffered through stomach ache after stomach ache, nauseousness and the inability to keep food down. In the worst times his 5'9" frame only weighed 110pounds.
Today my mom told me that my brother has gained thirty pounds since the surgery (now over two months ago). He who used to look like a stick figure, especially sitting around in sweats my mom recalls, now has legs!
Finally free from weakness and pain, Tom has begun a new life with a new job in a new city, and is finding more hobbies and forming more relationships than he has in the past eight put together.
I mentioned to my mom how happy I am for Tom, "It is like he has been reborn," I said. "His life has begun all over."
My mom responded, "Anne your life has just begun too. Everyday it begins again. You are not going to find happiness in one day. It is going to take time."
Tom went through so much to get to his "rebirth," I can only believe that what I struggle with daily will someday lead to a rebirth such as his.
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