Adventures of a Tribe

It’s a beautiful life

Posted on September 3, 2015

Emma woke feeling very congested his morning, and had a bit of a sinus headache. Her words to me were, “Mom, my one nostril is constipated and the other has diarrhea.” It’s difficult expressing sympathy and compassion when you feel like you’re about to burst into laughter!

My sister called me this morning saying that her son, David, was in the hospital throwing up and feeling very ill. A scan showed an obstruction in his intestine, and later in the day results came back showing that he has Crohn’s Disease. This is something he will have to deal with for the rest of his life, and we pray for his comfort and good health.

Jan had his 7th radiation treatment today. 3 more to go. We had an interesting experience while there this morning. As we sat in the back waiting room where patients wait their turn for radiation, an older woman and her husband sat across form us. Her bald head made it obvious that she had been through chemo as well, and she had a beautiful smile on her face. I said good morning to her and introduced Jan and I, and asked her how many treatments she has left.  She excitedly told us that she had breast cancer and that she had 4 left out of 32 treatments. Her husband added bits of information about the frightening journey they’d walked hand in hand through the congested corridors of cancer, and then they asked Jan what type he had. He told them his story and they listened quietly and expressed their thoughts. It was  interesting to sit and listen to them converse, and I felt an immediate bond and mutual understanding between them all. Somethings were completely understood even though they weren’t spoken of and it was comforting to witness. As we stood to walk into the radiation room, they wished Jan well and told him to be strong.

We took Hannah to an eye appointment after that.

When the tech did the test where she puffs air into her eyes, Hannah jumped a little and squealed. It made both the tech and I laugh. When she did the other eye Hannah had the same response.

Her eye appointment showed that she will need glasses in the future, but for now she is ok.

The creatures home school text books arrived yesterday. We picked up a few school supplies and studies began today. The program we are using is American School of Correspondence.We had the choice of doing it all online or all on paper, and we chose the paper route because we will not always be in wifi range. Every Friday they will take an exam and we will mail it in to be graded. The program is a bit pricey, but will provide them with an excellent assortment of classes, including college prep classes, and it fits our lifestyle perfectly.

This afternoon I took a 2 hour nap which felt so good. After that I watched the crazy creatures goofing off and wrestling.

Hannah asked me if between all the kids, one or more of them make me laugh every day. I told her that they make me laugh many times a day. Her response was, “Good, that means for almost 24 years you have laughed every day. We are doing a good job!” I love my creatures so much. They bring so much joy into our lives.

This evening Jan and I were sitting on the front step enjoying the coolness of the evening, and the changing color of the sky. A man walked past energetically and made his way down the road, and then another man pulled in to the neighbors driveway with his big diesel truck and jumped out and went inside. It caused me to think about how grateful I am for the freedom that a healthy body brings. So many healthy people are wasting their lives in front of the computer or TV, when there is so much beauty and love in the world to embrace. I now have had over 30 000 people reading my blog, and to all of you I say, take your shoes off and feel the earth beneath your feet. Jump in puddles, make snow angels, blow big bubbles with your gum, dance in the rain and twirl around with a handful of dandelions. There is beauty everywhere. Feel it, touch it and experience it, because life is precious and fragile and there are memories to be made.