As I've mentioned before, my darling husband has dementia and is in care at an Aged Care facility. I visit him six afternoons a week. Saturday is my day off for washing, supermarket shopping and gardening. One day this week I wasn't feeling great, but still intended to visit hubby. However a half hour or so before I was due to leave home, I was hit with overwhelming tiredness. I hadn't had a lot of sleep for three or four days, and that particular day I had been awake since 3.30 am.
Realisation hit me that it would be very unwise and unsafe for me to drive when I felt so tired, so I reluctantly decided I needed to stay home to try to get some sleep. Our lounge recliner is quite comfortable so I curled up on that, took off my glasses and took out my hearing aids.
I've had hearing aids for quite a few years (and probably should have had them 10 years earlier!). It seems to be a genetic thing for the women in our family to start to lose their hearing in their 50's. At the last check I had only 60% of normal hearing. The hearing aids are great and I manage very well, except for when someone has a very broad accent. The one thing I can't do is lie down with hearing aids in my ears. Apart from the discomfort of them being pushed in the ear by the pillow, they will squeal once they are covered over, so out they come as soon as I lie on my side.
I managed to get some intermittent sleep, not very refreshing, and I probably woke up not feeling any better than a couple of hours earlier. But it was time to get going again, so on went the glasses and in went the hearing aids. A couple of minutes later, I felt this extremely loud, horrendous, scratching noise in one ear. It was absolutely terrible, but what was worse was the excruciating pain that went with it. It was all so bad that I began to think I needed medical assistance and started to plan whether I should call an ambulance, get to the hospital or call in a Home Doctor.
After about ten minutes of wondering whether I was going to die, I felt something crawling on the outside of my ear ... and there it was - the tiniest ant, not even 2 mm (1/16 in) long. The uproar in my ear stopped, the pain subsided and my panic abated!
I've noticed a few ants in the house, a signal that we're going to have some rain. Evidently one had decided to sit on my hearing aid and so had been inserted in my ear. It's hard to believe that such a tiny, insignificant thing could cause such torment.
It made me think how important small things are. Life is made up of lots of little things, and how we handle them is what matters. Like a smile - so easy to give, so uplifting when you receive one, costs nothing - a small thing that can change someone's day. Did you know that you can hear when a person is smiling? When you are on the phone with someone, particularly at the end of the conversation, when saying goodbye, you can tell by the change in their voice if they stop smiling. I try to remember to not stop smiling till I actually finish the call!
And talking of small things, here's a pretty box to hold all the small bits and pieces that are part of the Days of Delight Calendar Block of the Month pattern. This month instructions are included for the box, then there's just one month to the finish line.
My 2023 Block of the Month Quilt is currently off at the Quilters. I hope you like the sneak peaks scattered throughout this article. The quilt has lots of small detail that brings it to life.
It's the little things that count. As the famous quote says, We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. My adventure with an ant this week has reminded me again the importance of little things and the need to put all my heart, soul and love into the small things of life as well as the big things that always seem more important. As God's Word says, "Whoever can be trusted in small matters can also be trusted in great ones." Luke 16:10 NCB.
Happy stitching!
Val
