Megan Parker Artist

Breathing. You probably take it for granted, it just happens. In... Out... In... Out... A luxury I would give anything to have. My oxygen tank is my world. It goes everywhere with me. I can’t leave the house without it. I can’t hike without it. I can’t sleep without it. A lot of people are surprised to find out that I need this. They start asking questions, usually to the effect of “How are you so active? How do you climb mountains? Aren’t you afraid of running out of air and dying?” To be honest, it isn’t easy. It’s a constant struggle. It’s terrifying, but I’m more afraid of not living.

This is me. My unapologetic self. Oxygen fills my lungs. I have a PICC line in my arm pumping antibiotics. I’ve had strokes, a brain stent surgically inserted in my brain, ICU stays and hours and hours of rehabilitation. I lost my best friend of 23 years to a traumatic death and instantly became a single parent to an autistic son.

You never know what people are going through, even if they appear fine. If I am anything, I’m a hard bish to kill!

Tragedy and illness are two things that will shake up your life in a way that little else can. Life keeps reminding us of its fragility and how we should be living our unpromised days. Sickness will be a reminder of our own mortality. Death will be the reminder about living, about our priorities, about our values and our beliefs, and mostly how precious your time and life is. We still hike and I hope we will for the rest of our days together because for us, Heaven is a little closer in the mountains and for a moment, we are a family again.

Some days are harder than others and I have to dig a little deeper and harder for the strength to match my smile. Just because I am choosing to live does not mean this is the path I would've chosen. You can witness the world crumble around you, stare into a future worse than you ever imagined, with only fear and uncertainty ahead -- and you can survive it. You can somehow fight your way back to life.

My strongest life lesson came when he unexpectedly died. You think that being born sick should have been enough for one family. Nope. Death reminds us that life is not forever and that love and kindness are the things that matter most. Death reminds us not to wait – not to wait to live, not to wait to be happy and not to wait to express our love and gratitude for one another. The world needs more love… more love… more love… The world can never have enough love.