Here we are in the midst of a very important election season.  Both sides warn of what will happen to our country, our economy, our kids, and our way of life if they are not elected. 

Our economy continues to struggle.  The Federal Reserve is planning unprecedented moves to try, once again, to kick start the economy…or at least to try to prevent it from getting worse.  We continue to get reports that show how our employment picture is not getting better.  Many of us are concerned about our jobs as we hear about more and more cutbacks.

This week we learned that some moves by the major players in the mortgage market could create a tsunami that hits the housing market, and our home values, yet again.

The financial markets have been relatively stable amidst all the turmoil.  But investors are scared.  We don’t trust Wall Street to create a fair playing field.  And we don’t trust the government to make sure they do. 

Terrorism alerts are high.   We’ve been warned about traveling to what were once safe places…like Europe. 

But when you really put things in perspective, none of this stuff really matters.  Let me explain. 

About two weeks ago, my weekend-warrior brother was playing in an adult hockey league game.  He plays on the same team as his son.  It’s a great bonding experience for them, and some good exercise.  During the game, he was hit and fell backward, hitting his head on the ice.  Thankfully, the league requires helmets and he was ok.  But he later felt a bit dizzy so he scheduled an appointment with his doctor to check on things.  The diagnosis was a grade one concussion…nothing too serious.  But to be safe, the doc ordered a CT scan.

The results of the CT scan caused some concern.  It showed some abnormalities in his brain (I know there’s a joke here, but I’m going to leave it alone…for now).    The doctor ordered an MRI.  This is the funny part of the story.  My brother is extremely claustrophobic.  And, of course, the hospital that was scheduled to perform the MRI only had the closed type.  He lasted about eight seconds in the tube.

The doctor’s office scheduled a follow-up for the next week.  This time, they medicated him and he slept through the whole thing.  Then the waiting game began.  A couple of long days later, he got the call we were waiting on.  The doctor called, not the nurse or another assistant.  So, he knew right away it wasn’t good news.  He learned that he has a type of brain tumor called a meningioma.  The doctor told him that it was very large and that he needed to see a specialist right away.

Over the next few days, we learned once again what was important in life.  It’s not the upcoming elections.  It’s not the economy.  It’s not the housing market, or the financial markets.  It’s not that terrorists might be planning another of their cowardly acts.  All of these are important, but when someone close to you gets news like that, their importance fades.

It took a couple of days to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon to learn about a treatment plan.  It was a couple of long days.  You see, my brother is my best friend.  I couldn’t bear the thought that this news could mean we would lose him way earlier than we should.  We talked several times over those few days.  We tried to be as pragmatic as possible.  We discussed whether his estate documents were in place and updated.  We discussed some other financial issues.  We talked with friends and got him on several prayer chains.  The time passed slowly.  We tried to avoid discussing the emotions we were all going through, but it was pretty difficult. 

There is a happy ending to the story.  The appointment with the neurosurgeon brought good news.  The tumors were not malignant and we learned that they are actually pretty common.  About one out of ten of us have them to some degree.  His were larger than the average, but not so large as to cause immediate concern.  The treatment plan turned out to be that there was no treatment needed right now.  He would have another MRI in 3-6 months to see if they have grown.  If so, radiation has proven to be pretty effective and he would go down that road.  If they haven’t grown, he will just need to monitor from time to time as he grows older...and leads a healthy, normal life.

Our family got a lesson in putting things in perspective over those few days.  Yes, the election, the economy, the jobs situation, the housing and financial markets, and the threat of terrorism are all important.  But when you face the potential loss of a loved one, they are not nearly as important as they were the day before we got the initial news.  And, now that we have things in perspective, they’re still not.