Last week while visiting my in-laws, my mother-in-law fell and broke her wrist. My wife went with her in the ambulance to a nearby hospital and I followed in our car. We were in the ER for about three hours at most. The following day I drove 530 miles.
My father told me more than once when I was young that "you do what you have to". This seems like a Depression-era kind of comment, that times are often bad and there isn't much point in dwelling on it or panicking; you just keep going and do the best that you have to.
I've assimilated a lot of lessons like that from my father without much intention on my part. It's a choice I guess, but it's been a useful one. I don't think of myself as superhuman but God's been good and I haven't faced challenges as bad as those that have faced many others.
I know and live with folk who do dwell in the sheer horror of the moment, which can always be found. Sometimes I do that when I have too much time on my hands, but I'm grateful that in the moment I've been able to focus more on problem-solving.
My two children both seem to handle crises well in the same way; their issues are more long-term and that does get them low at times. I think modeling behavior during crises is probably one of the real jobs of parenting, moreso than giving advice.
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