Will you still love me tomorrow?

Her face was tear-streaked. She held my hand, her eyes grew huge, and she wept some more. Her greatest fear, she said, was that her boyfriend would leave her when he found out she was in the hospital again.

Really? I asked. He’d leave you because he’s sick? Has he complained about helping you, or driving you to your appointments, or visiting you here?

No, she said, not at all. He’s been wonderful.

Something doesn’t make sense to me, I said. Can you explain why you are worried he will leave?

Turns out that her past had hijacked her expectations: an abusive childhood, an abusive spouse teamed up in her memory banks to make her believe that everyone is going to leave her. And that she would be facing the next stage of her chronic illness alone.

Gently I asked questions. Listened. And hopefully showed her the great worth she has in God’s eyes. In the time we talked, her cell phone rang several times with messages piling up. I left to get her tissues… and when I came back, she was smiling through her tears.

He’s coming right over. He’s worried about me.

As I walked to see my next patient, I thought about how her fears are like many of ours. Quite honestly, her questions, her worries, aren’t really that different than mine. Many times, deep down, I think we all wonder if life will continue with the loving, caring relationships that we are in, and with as many tomorrows as we want, instead of trusting that God will give us “enough.”