It’s been a while since I posted last…. much has happened in the last week and a half! Let’s see. On the 13th was the two year “anniversary” of my being raped which has brought up a lot of mixed feelings which I am in the process of writing a different post about. I also got a job on the 18th of June, nothing terribly exciting or up my alley, but I work the customer service desk at a large hardware store company. I have been working everyday since Thursday so I have been preoccupied with that.

Diego and I moved into our home on June 13th so we are still in the process of unpacking some boxes, but most of the main stuff such as bedding, clothes, pots and pans, etc. have been put away. Once I get a *real* day off, I will be unpacking my office to have my blogging space set up so I can hopefully have more dedicated writing time and begin my vlog!

Yesterday after work, I spent Father’s day with Diego and his family, as well as my own prior to going to Diego’s family home. His mother’s eye was droopy on one side and we were worried it could possibly be a stroke. She felt fine, her cognition was normal and so was her regular functioning. Diego and myself weren’t too terribly worried, but thought she should go to urgent care the next day. His younger sister, however, burst into tears, saying we needed to take her to the ER because she couldn’t smile normally.

Today, Diego and I were getting ready to work at our respective jobs and we get a call from his sister saying that she was driving their mother to the ER because Maria, his mom, went and took the youngest son to his therapies (the youngest of the three children has down syndrome and autism and is 10 years old) and the therapist said she believed Maria had a stroke and called the sister to come take Pablo (the youngest) home. Diego’s sister took their mom to the ER and Diego proceeded to call out of work to pick Pablo up from therapy and take him home until their dad could come home from work.

I went to work like normal because there was nothing I could do. I was sent home 2.5 hours early because the manager on duty overheard me saying that my mother in law was in the hospital. Since then, she has been admitted to the hospital, transferred to a bigger hospital, had two CT scans (both showed as normal), a spinal tap, a MRI, and is awaiting a couple of heart exams come tomorrow. They are trying to decipher if it was a stroke or a brain aneurysm that she had. Due to COVID-19, she can only have one visitor a day and so Diego has yet to hear from her.

He is at a loss of what to do, which breaks my heart. He asked me in a sad tone, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

This is something he often says in a sarcastic, joking matter, but this time, he meant it. That’s what broke me.

So why do bad things happen to good people? I am a firm believer in the idea that a) everything happens for a reason and b) God only gives you what you can handle. So with that being said, I am hoping this chain of events can be an eye opener for Diego and his family. His whole family is obese and in poor health due to eating habits and lack of exercise. I know that his mother has high blood pressure and is diabetic, which can lead to worsening health problems later on in life. My hopes is that whatever may happen, God willing, will be less severe so she can have a long and happy life, but in the future can make better choices in regard to putting her health first.

Maria is one of the most selfless women that I know. In the hospital she even said she felt bad for being admitted because she didn’t have beans and rice on the stove ready to eat for her husband when he would have come home for lunch and didn’t have dinner ready. But at some point you are forced to put your own health and well being first and my prayers are that she will survive this mystery ailment and be closer to God and obedient to what His will is for her.

In my opinion, God has a plan for everyone and whether or not they are inherently good or inherently bad is irrelevant. “Good” things happen to everyone and so do “bad” things happen to everyone. It’s what we do with the “bad” or the darkness that defines our character. If we crumble, then the darkness wins. If we conquer the darkness and defeat it with light, or with God, God and lightness will overpower whatever “bad” or dark thing that we are trying to overcome.

For example, Maria is in a situation overcome by darkness. With prayers and positive thinking, it doesn’t fix the situation, but sheds light to the situation and can only do good, rather than harm. Another form of shedding light to the situation is finding out the cause of the symptoms and addressing them with proper treatment. She is in the right hands of the doctors and they are shedding light and knowledge on the situation to improve things. Regardless of the outcome, we must let the light overpower the darkness. Darkness is everywhere and will always be present. Because there is darkness, there will always be Satan and hurt and pain and any negative attribute you can think of. But what brings me peace is that with darkness comes light, serenity, peace, joy, and God.

Bad things happen to everyone, not just good people. It’s what you do with the darkness that defines who you are.

Til Next Time,

Dani