It started around Christmas time, although she didn’t know it.
She and her partner were visiting her family. They announced their intention to marry in the New Year. Her parents were delighted and they all talked about their futures during dinner. For some reason, the subject came up about how many children they planned to have. The numbers kept going up and humour inevitably crept into their conversation. At one point she was eating and laughing at the same time, bringing on a choking fit. It didn’t last long and it was thought that something had gone down the wrong way. It was several days before the coughing fits returned. From that time on, they got worse. The condition continued with far more regular fits of painful coughing.
Over a number of months she was bounced around. The first concern was emphysema, followed by the frightening prospect of it being cancer of the lung. It was a traumatic time for the couple, with their hopes of growing a family and living to a ripe old age together, slowly fading.
Finally, with the wonders of modern science, the truth became known. A small fuzzy patch on her lung was discovered when x-rays were taken. An exploratory operation discovered the reason for the problem. Incredibly, a pea plant was found sprouting inside her lung!
The surgeon explained, “This sort of thing has happened before, it is a known condition,” he said, with a reassuring smile. “There have been a number of recorded cases, believe it or not. In your case, the pea that went down the wrong way as you quite correctly put it, was able to sprout. The warm, moist conditions inside your lung were ideal for the pea plant to grow.”
For the couple, it was wonderful news and so good to know. After all, it was all about what is and what isn’t known.
Only God knew that it was the only thing that would ever grow inside her…