WORDS OF WONDER

In the wintry days of Minnesota, we were fortunate enough to have two weeks in a lovely beach front condo at St. Augustine, Florida and we were returning from our days in the sun when we stopped at a motel outside of Cleveland, Ohio. For some reason I was feeling somewhat ill and as the evening proceeded, I had some weird feelings I couldn't remember ever having before. I couldn't put a label on what was wrong but along about 11:00 I was on the verge of calling the front desk and telling them I wanted an ambulance. However, I withstood this urge and finally went to sleep somewhere in the wee hours. My feelings had not disappeared but sleep over came me and I awoke the next morning with the affliction having disappeared. We continued on our way towards Minneapolis but I wanted to talk about the lesson I had learned the previous evening. So I said to Louise. "Honey you know I was feeling pretty bad last night and came close to calling for an ambulance". She didn't say anything by way of a reply and I continued, "You need to know what to do if I should have a heart attack". This time she replied, "I don't want to talk about it"! I was somewhat stunned by what I considered a cavalier attitude about a most serious subject. I am now a bit irritated and tried to introduce some words that might dispel that attitude by saying, "Hey honey, this might be a matter of life or death". I then added a little emphasis by saying "MY life or death "!!! Without looking at me she again added her own emphasis, "I don't want to talk about it". I said, "Do you mean that if I am lying on the floor of our living room in the throes of chest pains you plan on sitting there watching me not knowing what to do"?? She quietly once again stated "I don't want to talk about it". And that ended that conversation, but I have worked hard to have a heart attack. I think I deserve one and have always been befuddled by her lack of response knowing that when I have it, she will not know what to do. Fortunately, I am now well beyond that conversation but as the melody lingers on I recall her words of wonder.