Life is unpredictable

There I was in my own little world. Enjoying walking hand in hand with the man I loved. Knowing that we were going to start our lives together and that we had the blessing of our families. Everything was perfect. Everything was perfect until we saw an ambulance fly by. We turned to see where it was going and noticed it stopped at the restaurant we had just left. Both our parents were still there, and of course sometimes you can't help but think the worst.

Aaron squeezed my hand, and said, "I'm sure everything is fine."

Just as I was about to tell him he was probably right, my cell phone rang. It was mom. She was frantic. She told us to come back to the restaurant. Aaron's dad had had a heart attack and was being rushed to the ER. I told her we were heading right back, closed my cell phone, and with tears in my eyes I looked up at Aaron.

"I'm so sorry," I said to him. "We have to go back to the restaurant. Your dad....your dad he had a heart attack," I managed to choke out.

I saw a look of utter horror in his eyes. We turned and started running back to the restaurant. When we reached it, they were taking his dad in a stretcher and heading for the ambulance. My mom had her arms around Aaron's mom. Aaron ran up to his mom and enveloped her in a hug.

They had to get to the hospital and only one person could ride with him. Aaron's mom was not in the best state, so he got in the ambulance with his dad. Right before he climbed in, he leaned in kissed me, and whispered, "I love you. Please take care of my mom."

After the ambulance left, my parents, Aaron's mom, and myself headed to the hospital. I sat in the back with her and she held my hand the entire ride.

"A. He is so lucky to have you. My son could not have picked a better woman to have in his life," she said in between sobs.

We got to the hospital and it seemed that no one knew where his dad was. It took us almost 20 minutes to find someone who could point us in the right direction. Finally we were making our way through a long corridor to where we would be made to sit and wait.

After what seemed like hours, Aaron emerged from behind doors. He had tears in his eyes, and I thought the worst.

"He's going to be okay. The doctor said it was just a mild heart attack."

He walked towards his mom and she fell apart in his arms. Sobbing and thanking God at the same time. Once Aaron took her back to the room they had his dad in, he came back out and looked like he had aged 10 years. He looked tired and worn out.

I stood up as I saw him walk out and he immediately walked towards me. He put his arms around me, leaned his head on my shoulder and cried. I had never seen him cry, but I was glad he was crying out of relief and not out of grief.

My parents left about an hour later, and Aaron and I stayed behind. His mom spent the night in the room with his dad, and we slept in the waiting room. Aaron wanted to be there when his dad woke up. The next morning, we were woken up by a nurse telling us we could go in and see him. At hearing that, Aaron tensed up.

"What's wrong?," I asked him.

"I know I was with him yesterday. But last night that was the adrenalin getting me through it. I am afraid to see him A. He looked so weak. My dad is a big strong man. Seeing him like this makes me realize he could leave me at any minute."

I grabbed his hand in mine, and said, "It is because we don't know what could happen from one minute to the next that we need to treasure the minutes we do get."

He stood up, grabbed my hand and headed for the room. His dad was awake and ready for company by the time we walked in. He was full of jokes. Complaining he needed real food not jello, and saying the hospital gown was just not his color.

We spent the rest of the day in the hospital with his dad. We even ate the jello with him and towards the end of the evening we were all through thinking about the tragedy that could have been, but instead grateful for what we still had.