This time last year I had spent my Friday sitting in St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank with my girlfriend waiting to see if my husband would be here with me or not.
He was told the Tuesday before Labor Day that, no, we would not be going to our nephew's wedding in New York, but he would be in surgery having triple bypass.
That was the scariest time of my life. Sitting in the waiting room was the easy part, almost, the hard part was seeing him hooked up to so many tubes and needles that even though he was in a semi-coma state and probably didn't feel anything, made my neck, stomach and chest hurt just looking at him.
They had told me that talking to him was a good thing because if he reacted, this meant that he was coming around and would be here much longer.
On about the second or third day, I was chattering away while he was still in ICU when I looked at him and he put his finger to his lips to tell me to "shut up." I laughed out loud because that was the best sign he could have ever given me that he heard me and wanted me to be quiet.
I told him about it later and he laughed.
Having a loved one in the hospital for any reason can be a scary proposition, even if it is for something relatively minor.
After he came home, there were many scary nights because he had to sleep on the couch because he couldn't sleep on his back, he was still withdrawing from all the anesthesia and I am sure, in much pain. I would get up periodically and go into the living room just to make sure he was breathing if he did fall asleep.
We held each other and cried many a night. His appetite was much improved from the hospital and I made sure I had many pots of black eyed peas made because he loved them and that was about the only thing he wanted to eat and he had to keep his strength now.
This year's Labor Day will be much better, with much more fun for both of us. Barbecue tomorrow, barbecue on Monday with friends and loved ones and lots of drinking and joy.
It almost seems like a birthday to me, for him and I don't even know if he is thinking of it that way, but I am.
So here's to you, Robert, your birthday after surviving something I hope I never have to go through again, for him or anyone else for that matter.
Happy Labor Day, everyone.
