Blogs

[#1]

I have been blown away by, and so grateful for, your prayers these past few weeks for my family. My mom relishes in telling people that our family has a whole “prayer chain of QVC viewers” and it brings a choke to her throat and my dad’s to know they are being lifted up by countless beautiful loving strangers.

Dad is still in hospital, it’s been 8 days and we are hoping this week he will be sent home. He’s bucking all the odds. Of course you know this if you follow me on social media bc Dad has given his permission for countless cute smiling selfies to be posted (which is a big deal when you are sick, unshowered and clad in those snappy hospital gowns. Correction: by day 7 dad changed into a Polo shirt with hospital scrubs to reclaim some dignity.)

Dinner before surgery

My brother lives in Paris, and of course he flew in for the surgery too. Which was lovely because it gave us brother / sister time…my brother is a rock and hero, the second patriarch of our family.

And then there is my Mom, who has been married to my Dad for over 50 years...

Dinner before surgery

So I don’t mind telling you that once we knew Dad made it through surgery successfully and had gotten through a few days of recovery, this was what our night looked like…

Cheers to Dad with Scotch

Coming home brought back a lot of memories, because as you grow up, age, and leave the nest, you leave a part of your heart and youth in the past. So after visiting Dad at the hospital one day, I drove by my childhood home…the house I lived in until I was 11 yrs old when we moved to Mexico.

I had blue sky wallpaper with clouds, in my bedroom, and a satin banner of Michael Jackson on the ceiling. We had window air conditioners, a dog named Jiggs who was blind and not so friendly, and I remember cutting that lawn for a $20 allowance every weekend...and playing in snowdrifts that reached almost clear to the roofline some winters. I also remember one of my favorite Michigan foods from when I was a kid…Olga’s

But one of the best things for my heart and soul during a scary time, was one night while home I got to see all my high school buddies. There is nothing, I repeat nothing, like friends from childhood who you have known for over 20years…friends who knew you before age and life thickens your skin and steals a bit of your softeness and innocence…friends who love you no matter what, even if you are a hot mess, friends who can see past the mask we sometimes wear to know the real story of our heart. Friends who rally to help out your Mom and Dad by running errands and watering flowers and coming to their aid, when you live hundreds of miles away and can’t...

So thank you everybody for the love and prayers. And I don’t mind saying keep them coming. Dad has cleared hurdle #1, now we are praying with all our hearts that God soars him past hurdle #2.

x

To read any of my past blogs, go here.