There are those things that you can shake off, given enough time and perseverance. They’re usually things pertaining to your ego, identity or self-esteem. However, there are things that you hear or see that stay with you. Things that you keep replaying in your mind in such a way that it does nothing to invoke a deep sense of helplessness upon you.

Hearing that Charles, my nephew, is in the hospital after undergoing epileptic seizures is one of them.

I got the message from my mom today, and immediately called her back.
Apparently, he went through some last night, was sent home from the hospital
a few hours later, and then started having some more again. They had a
pediatrician come in and he said that Charles is hitting puberty, and this
sometimes happens. Never heard of that before, but Hey…he’s the one that
knows children better than me.

I’m still in shock over everything, as this is the first immediate family
emergency I’ve experienced (Grandparents excluded). I’m sure that he’ll be
ok, but there’s always that off-kilter feeling you get after hearing news
like this.

What makes this all the more creepy for me is that I was thinking about his
yesterday and how I’d enjoy having him come to Dallas and we could spend some more time together.

— Tommy just wants everything to be OK.