I Saw It On TLC or One of Those

Lately I've been .. how do you say... bum-med? I cannot tell you why, only that some days I walk around feeling like my heart is just breaking. So, thank God for Dana.

Today we were standing in line waiting for our food at Wendy's and she tells me that she saw this thing on TLC about a kid who tried to committ suicide by blowing his head off, but instead missed and blew his face off. They had to try to reconstruct what was left, and now he goes around to schools and tells kids that there is hope. And I, in all my compassion, say:

"Gee. Thanks. I tell you I'm depressed and you tell me a story you saw on TLC about a kid blowing his face off. What are you trying to tell me, here? That I should be glad I have a face? I mean, damn. That shit is depressing. I'm ALREADY depressed, and what do you give me? This story? This, which is basically saying to me "At least you have a face."

It made us laugh, and of course I was joking, but then all day it was stuff about how we had faces. Like, it was the one thing we both had to hang onto. We still had faces. This kid, with no face, was walking around sharing messages of hope with other kids, and here we were, complaining of depression and diarrhea? It just didn't seem right.

I have so many things to be thankful for, and in the day-to-day routine of living, I forget about them. I don't stop to think that somewhere out there, someone is looking in at my life and maybe even wishing they were as lucky as I am. After all, I am pretty fucking lucky even if I do lay awake in bed at night obsessing because I want new sheetrock in my bedroom. In the grand scheme of things, holes in my sheetrock just aren't that fucking bad. It could be worse. And thank you God, that it isn't.

So, I challenge you, next time you're feeling sorry for yourself because you forgot your umbrella, or you are stuck in traffic, you have a zit, the phone won't stop ringing, you forgot something at home you promised you'd bring, you can't find your keys, you have to go to Lowe's AGAIN, you spilled something on your shirt, you had a fight with your S.O... and all the other miniscule bullshit that we find irritating .. I just want you to think to yourself:

"At least I have a face."

And that, my friends, is my gift to you. The reminder that you have a face. And isn't it beautiful?