3:15 pm

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch when the phone rang. It was 3:15 pm.

My wife was taking a nap in the recliner because we had gotten up early to go to a doctors appointment. An appointment I have come to dread. Every couple of months I have to get an endoscopy to see if I am bleeding. In the past they have always brought me a significant amount of pain and discomfort, usually because some minor surgery was involved.

Today as they prepped me I fell into the familiar routine rather easily. The intern asked me the standard questions as he finished applying the adhesive leads to my chest and the nurse put a oxygen line up to my nose and then told me to lay on my left side as she placed a mouth guard inside my mouth. She then told me she was going to start my I.V. line.

It! OMG! Burned! Like! Fire!

She obviously recognized my discomfort because she said, "Sometimes it hurts like that. It will go away in a minute."

It actually took less time than that because I was gone. Usually I say to myself, 'I'll see you on the other side.' I didn't even get to formulate the thought before I woke up on the other side.

My wife and the nurse were sitting there waiting for me.

"Three minutes." they said. "It only took three minutes."

There were no bleeds. Anywhere. Everything went great. That was the happiest moment of my day.

Until 3:15.

At 3:15 I looked at the clock.

My daughters were just getting let out of school.

The school bells ring at 3:15.

My wife's cell phone rang at 3:15

At 3:15 my oldest daughter called her mom and asked, "Is Daddy all right?"

That was the happiest moment of my day.