"You Are Your Own Angel"

My mother’s knee surgery was successful today. For the past few months, she has been struggling with severe mobility issues that led to urinary incontinence due to the wear and tear of her knees. One knee has now been operated on successfully, and the other will need surgery in about 8–12 months.

This is more than just a medical journey — Caring for her has brought me face-to-face with the rawness of human vulnerability. I can only imagine the quiet questions that may have crossed her mind in these past months:

Will my daughter abandon me if I become dependent?
What if I lose control and urinate on the bed?

I saw a powerful quote that seemed to speak directly to her—and to me:
No one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves !

And now, just hours after the procedure, the doctors are delighted with her progress. They believe that in just a couple of weeks, she will walk freely once more—and with that restored mobility, her urinary incontinence will fade away too.

While my mother is still in the ICU ; In this moment, I remember my father’s words from our Sabarimala pilgrimage when I was eight: “If you can save yourself, you can save anyone in the world.”

No one else can carry you across the river—you must be your own rescuer, your own strength, your own angel.

And when you have learned to do that, you can be the steady hand for someone else.
This time, I am that hand for my mother.

And one day, when I face the river again, I know I will not wait for an angel—
I will be my own.