“People with epilepsy love, have feelings and feel happy about the same things as anyone else”
An article by our collaborator Irene Tarragó
The last 3rd of July was my birthday. Every year I celebrate it with a fair amount of excitement, with family gatherings, with friends or just with the closest family. This year, because of COVID 19, it was clear that it was going to be a small celebration at home.
Circumstances were good and we were able to go to a house we own in the countryside, where my older son was also able to come with his family. I thought that no one else would come since my youngest son is living in Barcelona and that seemed too many kilometers to come only for a couple of days. But he showed up unexpectedly. How wonderful! The best gift. The whole family celebrated the birthday: my two children, my two granddaughters, my daughter-in-law, my husband, and me.
I have to confess that it was one of the best birthdays of my life. We even forgot to order the cake (as it’s a village you have to order it the day before), but we didn’t care: we bought an iced cake and, as we didn’t have a candle either, I found one around the house with a 1 on it and we put that on the cake. In the end, the years come one by one, don’t they?
There was singing, hugging, laughter… a realization that small things done with love are the most important. As I write this article, my youngest son is already back in Barcelona. We wish we could be more often together, but here we stay, with the older one and his family, who have two granddaughters that I eat with kisses.
People with epilepsy love, have feelings and feel happy about the same things as anyone else. Perhaps we appreciate the small, the banal, everyday details more. Those which others do not value (perhaps it is more accurate to say that they do not consider whether it is valuable or not), a person with epilepsy does. For example, a swim in the swimming pool or in the sea. We can and should enjoy the water, but we must be careful to do so always with someone else with us. And I, when I am in the pool with my people, enjoy it like a little girl. Because if I’m left alone, I can’t do it.
Well, I wish you all have a good summer and enjoy the sea, the mountains and, above all, that you can be with your families. I say goodbye to all of you until September.
