2012-1974=??

Everybody deserves one special day out of every year...and this one belonged to Allen. 

Home fried chips with fresh Salsa, Laura's famous tossed salad, Beef Enchiladas, Beef, bean & rice burritos, Mexican rice from our favorite Mexican, good friends, and the party was on!

After supper, with laughter in the air, Lars and Eden gave Daddy their wrapped gifts.  Lars, a skid steer that he picked out from the store and Eden, Red Twizzlers. 

While the birthday cakes (Irish Creme Chocolate Cheesecake and Chocolate Chip Cheese pie) were being candled in the kitchen, Eden verbalized her first cuss word when she repeated the mantra "Where's the damn cheesecake?" from an unnamed and forgiven friend whom lap she was sharing.  Reportedly, Allen's eyes got as big as saucers and she stopped short of the end of the sentence, as everybody stared at her, gaping.  I'm so thankful I was in the kitchen, where I could scold her without her seeing me laugh. 

Always good company and good fun when birthdays roll around here.

Happy Birthday to you!~

An Unexpected Trip

After talking to Chad on Sunday afternoon, I felt uneasy.  Something just seemed out of place.  Tone of voice?  Lack of luster? No humor? No sarcasm? Something.

By Monday, something wasn't right.  He didn't answer my calls, wouldn't text back. 

I didn't sleep Monday night, but couldn't say why. 

Tuesday morning, no answer again.   No text back.   I laid on the bed and fell asleep soundly for almost two hours. 

Then, at 10:59 a.m. I woke with a start. Something was wrong.  I called his phone again.  And Mom answered. 

"I want to talk to Chad", I calmly screamed into the phone.
"He's not talking to anybody", she said.

Awkward silent beat.

"Wait. He's reaching for the phone. I guess you're the special one", she said.

After a few brief mumbled and pained words, he dropped the phone.  Mom picked it up and started saying something before I cut her off with an abrupt, "I gotta go."

If he's not able to talk to me, I guess I'll just go sit with him then until he can. 

I booked tickets eastbound, then called my sister to meet me in Chicago the next afternoon.

 Then Dad called; "he's headed to ICU with a falling blood pressure"

I'm not going to make it.  Why didn't you go yesterday, Sarah?

Change of plans.  Time to fly.

A few hours later, with the help of SEVERAL family & friends in at least four states, I was on my way to Michigan with Elia to see my brother, quite possibly for the last time.

I text-ed Al to tell him my plan.  He said the Pastor's were praying for Chad at their conference. 

Tuesday night, I slept two hours in the guest room at my cousin's place in Denver, waking at 2:00am to pace the courtyard and wait for the chauffeured ride to the airport at 4:00am.

The plane landed in Detroit Wednesday morning at 11:30a and by 2:00 p.m., I was meeting Dad in the lobby of the hospital.  A few minutes later, I walked in to see some fat faced stranger in the ICU.

From there, it's a bunch of mixed emotion & fear, with a few special moments & humor thrown in for good measure.

Prayer vigil at several area churches that evening.  

As time went by, Chad got better & better and with each passing hour, that dreadful feeling started to pass away.  Things were looking up.  He was stable enough to transfer to the University Hospital. 

Is this the awake and happy stage before they crash and die?  The hospital staff was ready for a code. I heard the nurse tell the transferring Paramedic, "he's a full code so be ready for that." 

Nice.  

And then it happened. No, No, not the code. A prayer was answered in the way we wanted.  He just got better.  At least a little bit.  And then a little bit more.  Pretty soon, he was coming home to recover.  Safer there anyway, away from the hospital germs that got him so sick in the first place.

Joy.  

And Thanksgiving.

We had a mashed potatoes and turkey dinner to celebrate.  With the sickly guest of honor among us. 

Thanks be to God!

And to all the friends and family who offered up themselves and their gifts along the way; those who called with words of comfort, text-ed their availability, Face booked support, brought food, did laundry, cleaned house, packed lunches, bought gift cards, gas cards, stocked the fire, shuttled kids to soccer, got me to Michigan, gave me a bed to sleep in, chauffeured us around, or simply sat in prayer. 

Thank you.

You know who you are.

First Snow!

 There's nothing like the first snow of the season to make a kid's day

 (even if it only the 5th day of October)!

 Elia was in glorious splendor this morning watching the snow fall, finding it irresistible.  The smiles say it all.  And to think, we started the week at a balmy 97 degrees. 

I thought Michigan weather was weird, but not so much anymore.