Chinese all over the world celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival few days ago. On this special occasion, I was reminded of a beautiful story of the love of a group of friends that happened 4 years ago.
It had been about 10 days after my second bypass operation and I was slowly adjusting to my new life as a stroke patient. Evening came and as usual I waited for Steven to visit after he was done with work. Strange, I thought to myself that he should be late because he is always punctual. Closing my eyes I tried to rest.
As I was about to drift off, I was woken up by a familiar and happy voice.
"Surprise! We are going down for a mooncake party!", said my lovely friend.
Looking at the familiar face of a close friend at 9PM on a weeknight when it was off visiting hours was not what I had expected. My sleepy face transformed into a huge smile and I was ready to go since permission had been granted from the reluctant staff-in-charge. We had all of 45 minutes.
When we got the open space, 4 other faces greeted me and one of them belonged to Steven! Ah..the sneaky guy was in cahoot with my friends to bring me this wonderful surprise. Within a short period of time, they had decorated the area and I was given a Winnie-The-Pooh lantern to carry because I was the Guest-of-honour. The lantern produced a loud and shrill noise and I think that was the fun of it.
We walked a short distance, each with a lantern, admired the gorgeous moon as per tradition and then we ate the mooncake. Mooncake has never tasted better. While it's true that it was laced with a hint of alcohol, what made me giddy was definitely not the alchol but the sweet thought that had gone into this effort to bring love to me. In that moment I didn't feel like a patient but a normal person who was in the company of great friends. I feel incredibly blessed.
Thinking of this event today still brings warmth to my heart. While they are thousand of miles away from me now, their love and support is so readily available that I know I can count on it anytime.
This is definitely one of the key reasons that has helped me cope successfully with my illness and recovery from stroke. Other than this group of friends, there are many others who came in full support. Never underestimate the power of friends especially in times of needs.
Do you also have friends who have banded together and become your cheerleaders?
Remember those incidents and friends often. As you continue to savor the memory, notice the love and support that is flooding to your heart. This love will give you strength to deal with whatever situation that you maybe in right now.
Come, let's flourish together!
