This week has been full of new learning for us. My husband has been undergoing infusion treatments, and this is a brand new world for us. Hours of treatment, side effects, getting to know the infusion community, adjusting to what he/we can do with the non-infusion time — all of this is new to us.

What have I learned? I have learned that if you put two humans together in a room, and stick IVs in them, they will start talking to each other. By twenty minutes in, they will have found common friends or relatives, talk about frustrations, and talk about making the most of life. I have found that people staring full-on at terminal illness like to laugh, and will try to make others feel supported and connected.

I have learned that people that are coming in day after day to go through harsh treatments for their health, in some cases for their survival, live fully even with limited energy and time. I have heard less complaining from people in the infusion center than I do just walking around the grocery store. Frankly, every person I have met there this week has every right to complain and whine, and they aren’t.

They have a lot to teach the rest of us!