Watching Someone Hurt

We have had a week of watching our Abby in pain. The situation is resolving, thankfully. I was struck by the helplessness of only being able to watch someone deal with severe pain. I could make suggestions, offer the comfort of a hand to hold, get water or blankets; but fundamentally I could do nothing to help her. She was the only one who could decide what to do. She was the one who had to deal with it.

As parents, we all know there will be a time when the little feet are grown up. We expect to see some milestones to prove that they are making their own decisions now: temptations resisted (or not), wise habits developed (or not), new directions they take their lives in. But I never thought one of those growth milestones would be shown by pain. I hadn't realized that how Abby choose to deal with pain would show me her growing up. I would have preferred other ways than to see her in such pain!