I noticed her and those tell-tale marks on her face from far across the room. At the first break of our writer’s conference, I ran over to her, breathless with anticipation.
“Hey, I don’t mean to be weird or anything, but I notice that you have nasal cannula indentations on your cheeks, and I know that means you wear oxygen at night. I usually have those marks on my cheeks, too, but I didn’t have a portable tank to take with me, so I’m sleeping without it here at the conference.”
She didn’t even hesitate. She reached out and lovingly – knowingly – hugged me. We had an instant bond. We chatted non-stop for 20 minutes. We both have debilitating lung diseases for which there is no cure. We were both feeling a bit discouraged at this conference because it was set in the mountains at a high elevation and the campus was very hilly – two things that make people with sucky lungs cringe.
It has been a hard two years for both of us. We were both told by our physicians that COVID would not be kind to us, and we needed to avoid it if at all possible. We both felt isolated, lonely, bored, and angry after two years of this COVID nightmare. We shared sadness about strained relationships. We admitted feeling unloved, devalued, and discarded when people we loved diminished the devastation of COVID and refused to take precautions on our behalf.
The tears flowed uncontrollably and I think I made a blubbering scene for onlookers.
As two people with lung diseases amidst the worst pandemic in the modern world, we both also suffered from PTSD and I know, for me, I desperately NEEDED her. But here’s the thing: I didn’t know how much I needed her. I had open, oozing, un-attended wounds and didn’t realize it until she walked in the room. Seeing her just made me acknowledge I am hurt. I am suffering and I need someone who gets me.
I didn’t know how deep my wounds were until we started talking and shared all kinds of bottled-up emotions.
Later that day, I mused how my view on those nasal cannula indentations had changed. I’m no longer embarrassed by them. I’m glad I have them so that others who are oxygen-dependent can recognize me as someone who shares their wounds. I also mused that it would be kind of nice if people wore baseball caps emblazoned with a logo of the wounds they carry to help us all identify one another. I’d like the people with the following wounds to wear identifying ball caps so I could find them more easily:
- Not loved all that well by my daddy.
- Spent our kids’ college funds and our retirement funds on living overseas because we refused to raise support just to live like Jesus, for Jesus’ sake.
- Gains weight even if I swallow my own spit.
It is through the sharing of our pain and truly being known and understood in that pain, that we can begin to find healing.
And what about you, my friends? What wounds are you carrying that no one can see? Who is it that you need to meet just to feel that you are not so alone in your woundedness? Therefore, what kind of logos would you want to see on someone’s ball cap that would make you want to run to them, hug them, and say, “YES! Me, too! Me, too!”
Ball caps that said:
- Abused as a child. No one knows.
- My spouse is cheating on me.
- I drink my troubles away. Every day.
- We want a child, but can’t get pregnant.
- My business partner takes advantage of my hard work ethic.
- I don’t think I love my husband anymore.
- I don’t have any friends.
- I’m six months pregnant and just found out our baby has Down’s Syndrome.
- I secretly dream about running away from it all.
- I’m depressed and have fleeting thoughts of suicide.
- I have a prodigal child.
- Had an abortion in high school that no one knows about.
- I have cancer and I don’t feel like fighting it anymore.
Finding someone with the same kind of wounds is good, life-giving, and necessary. It’s also biblical:
“Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Galations 6:2
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4: 2,3
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” Proverbs 3:27
So here’s the deal, fellow sufferers – unless we get real with one another and share our woundedness, NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW and the healing that is available to us, through Christ and his people, won’t be known in its fullest form.
Unless we have nasal cannula marks on our faces or choose to wear a baseball cap with a bold logo, NO ONE KNOWS OUR WOUNDS.
So, may you, by the grace of God, find the strength to share your wounds with a few trusted souls. May you find that the sharing of your wounds exposes those hurts and pains to the light where the light can chase away the darkness. May you find some inner peace as you let out that which has always been bottled in. May you know that the God of all creation created other individuals WITH YOUR SAME WOUNDS to be there for you when you are feeling alone – you need only to reach out to them.
Don’t be ashamed of your nasal cannula indentations. They may be the very thing somebody needs to see today to bring about their healing.
Cin
So well written Cindy! Your perspective on so many things that matter in life is made even more meaningful by your vulnerability, honesty and transparency. Thanks for leading and loving by example!!
Hey Blaine! Thank you so much. But do me a favor, will you? Let me know if I’m ever TOO vulnerable and share TOO much! The more I come to terms with my mortality, the more I think, “What the heck? Why hold anything back? I’m checkin’ out early, anyway!” But I’m fairly certain that logic stinks. No one wants to hear ALL my crap! So if you and Kathy could let me know if I’m writing distasteful, cringe-worthy stuff, I’d appreciate it! Miss you guys! Can’t wait to hear ALL THE THINGS this summer!!!
Thank you for sharing, Cindy. This makes me miss a very special group of ladies I used to meet with.
Hey Robin! I hear the nostalgia in your message. You must have had a group of women at one time who were safe and the sharing of pain was not only welcome, it was expected. Dang – when you find a group like that, you know you’ve been kissed by God. I miss you, friend!
I love this idea. Sounds like a business plan with step one being develop invisible ink 😉 I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I went from the hospital where my Dad was on a ventilator with no answers to the grocery store and was paralyzed in the produce section between the grapes and the spinach looking around at the crowd of people repeating over and over to myself “Nobody knows – how can all of these people be here and nobody knows”
Oh, what a tender moment you’ve shared here, Alison! I’ve been there – where you just want to scream at the world and say, “Stop moving, world! Stop everything! No one should be going to work, getting their hair done, eating croissants or laughing at a joke right now!!! I’m in pain – can’t you see that???” Oh, how many times I’ve been there (after getting my diagnosis, after the deaths of my dad and sister, etc.) As you so accurately depict – it is a paralyzing feeling. We may be in the worst pain of our lives, yet nobody knows. Nobody cares. And the world goes about its business as if nothing has changed. Wouldn’t it be nice in those moments to wear baseball caps with our pain inscribed on it? At least then, maybe people would be nicer to the hurting. Then again, our pain isn’t safe with everyone. Maybe invisible ink with pain-specific decoding lights is the answer after all!
I agree with you that Covid and the ripple effects has caused PTSD in many of us in too many ways to count. We were forced to live in isolation and many times feeling fearful and literally had to lick our wounds all by ourselves. It’s been a re-awakening of my spirit in discovering what I craved and missed out on and then what a blessing to find others who felt the same way. I know I’m a different person because of Covid, still mad at all the trauma it caused for me and everyone I know, but now living in more thankfulness with eyes wide open to see the hurts and suffering in our world. We are not meant to do our journeys alone. Thank you, Cindy, for having the right words to stir emotions and feelings within us. So thankful this person at the conference was placed in your midst just for you!
So, so, true, Marcia! Your phrase “…forced to live in isolation… and literally had to lick our wounds all by ourselves.” OUCH. That pretty much summarizes the COVID experience for me. BUT – as you said, we are a different people because of it all and adversity can either draw us closer to God or make us angry and bitter and push Him away. Lord, I pray that I am the former, not the latter! Love you, my friend.
Thank you for sharing so vulnerably- we all need that! Your vulnerability brings healing too!
Thanks, Katie! Always a treat to hear from you!!!
Thank you, Cindy. I need ball caps that say recovering perfectionist, struggles with jealousy, competitiveness, and imposter syndrome, and needs constant reminding that life would not be better and my worth wouldn’t increase if I lost 40 lbs. Thank you for not just showing us the sunny sides. Your voice is needed!
Agree, agree, agree! I need those ball caps, too! Can you relate to this logo on a ball cap: Worried if I never publish a book I’ll have failed. UGH. This is a deep wound I carry and it’s not easy to find fellow sufferers of the same ilk. I have NO DOUBT you’re going to get that YA book published THIS YEAR!!! But you, more than most, can probably relate to my writer’s ball cap logos…
Such an interesting world we live in. We put different colored collars, leashes or bandanas on our dogs so others can know if they’re friendly to approach, if they’re child or dog friendly and to identify they are in training please do not interrupt. All without having to verbalize it and all this effort to help our beloved pets live a more enriched lifestyle. Why wouldn’t we want to do this for ourselves?! Let’s build a baseball team with baseball caps. I’m in line for tryouts as I wander thru daily life as a grieving daughter. The paralysis comment resonates. I do believe my personal confidant is out there, the challenge is to get there. Thank you for sharing & allowing me into your world 🥰
Oh yes, Melissa! So very, very true! I never even thought about how we “tag” our dogs so people can identify their purpose. Why is it so stinkin’ hard for humans to do the same thing? And oh my, yes – you are in the thick of grief and, I’m sure, would benefit greatly from a “team” of young women who also lost their father and were the apple of his eye. Your dad was always so, so proud of you! I loved to watch him watch you!!! All I can tell you is that the paralysis does subside. You will not feel this “numb” forever. I promise you. But in the meantime, if you ever need to talk, give me a call. I’m serious. I wasn’t the apple of my father’s eye, nor did we actually have that great of a relationship, but I DO know close family loss and I have known grief that I thought was going to be the end of me. And yet, somehow, I’m still here… Somehow, I can see you and I with matching ball caps. It just kinda seems right, doesn’t it??? (That does NOT mean, however, that I’m in ANY WAY suggesting my softball skills came anywhere even CLOSE to the level of ball you played, my dear!!!)
Thank you Cindy. I always look forward to your honesty, humor, and perspective on life. Thank you for challenging me to be bolder in sharing our wounds.
Thank YOU, Janis! And I always look forward to running into you – because no one can make me laugh as easily as you!!! (Plus, we always tend to share a Heidi-memory and I need that so badly!!!)
Thank you for this! It’s amazing how your words and thoughts are the same as mine sometimes. We need to get together sometime. ❤️
Cindy, I am speechless. So authentic, spot-on, and beautiful.
Thank you Cindy!
Well said!
Glad to have a friend who also has oxygen issues!