How did you spend Christmas?

I usually have plenty of time to visit with my patients during their therapy session. Some really like to talk and others are more quiet. One of our topics of discussion this week was Christmas plans. One of my patients in the transitional unit seemed to have a room full of visitors all week long. They did some singing and shared their Christmas goodies with me. On Friday when I stopped in his room for our session, he told me the whole family had been there on Christmas and his ribs hurt because he'd been laughing so much the past few days.

When I sympathized with another patient about how hard it is to be laid up this time of year, he commented, "I've spent a couple of Christmases living in my car so this isn't so bad." Over the next 30 minutes he told me what it was like to live on the streets. Over time, he began to stop thinking clearly. All he focused on was where to get enough food to survive and as a result he forgot that he had family within 100 miles who might be able to help him. Thankfully he had a friend who realized he was going deeper into depression and knew he needed to get out of town and start over somewhere else. This friend gave him $100 and told him to fill his car up with gas and start driving. The only memory he has after that was finding himself on a state highway thinking he could drive in front of semi and end his life without hurting the truck driver. "I didn't see one semi for the over 100 miles that I drove." He ended up at an uncle's house who made sure he was treated for the depression and was able to get back on his feet. After all that, it isn't so bad to be recovering from surgery in a warm place where there is plenty of food and even a therapist or two to add some variety to your day.