The Small Stuff
I could tell you about my weekend – how I’m on my third set of sneakers trying in vain to find a solution for my numbness. How the sales clerk told me that if the Nike Shox don’t work I should SEE.A.DOCTOR. (They don’t work.)
I could tell you about George, who sat down after lunch on Sunday with a fork ready for “cake and ice cream, Mom!” only to have it explained to him that cake and ice cream was being served after lunch at the nursing home they had visited earlier that morning, NOT at George’s house.
I could write about our search for a back-up alternative to our usual do-it-yourself dog wash ($2) that has been closed for a month, that led us to PetSmart and a quote of $32 for a mastiff and another place that was so creepy-bizarre I wouldn’t go in there even WITH my 200-pound dog.
I could write about our cable escapades, how in an effort to fix our “On Demand” issues, the tech totally wiped out our DVR (44% full of movies at the time). Very Comcastic, Indeed.
I could write about so many themes today, but admittedly, my mind is elsewhere.
On Friday, LM took a phone message for me from a college friend of mine who had lost my email address. I was supposed to see her and her family last fall, but by strange set of circumstances, didn’t end up able to. I hadn’t heard from her since, and was thrilled that she had called and quickly sent off an email asking her how everything was.
This morning I received the reply.
Her email told me of how thankful she was that her husband had seen the writing on the wall and changed jobs a year ago, to a different news station in the city, and had recently received a promotion and a 3-year contract. Just a couple weeks ago, his former station gave all employees two-weeks notice and shut their doors.
She told me about how they had changed their will after the twins were born, to name different guardians when they became a family with four kids instead of just two. The family they named agreed to be guardians but only if they had regular contact with the kids even now, so should anything happen, they would all know each other well. She told me how great this relationship has been and how much her kids love going over to their guardians’ house.
And then she told me about Josh, one of her twin boys that might be 3 or 4. How he had developed spots of petechiae last fall, and seemed to have more bruises than her other, rough-housing twin. She took him to the doctor; who immediately called in a second doctor; they sent her to the children’s hospital where they ran blood tests. Right then and there Josh was admitted for the next 10 days with a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He’s been undergoing Chemo every week, in and out of the hospital every time he runs a fever, and sometimes having to stay inside for a week at a time to caution against getting an infection when his counts are low.
But she goes on to say that if you’re going to get Leukemia, this is the one to get. She gives the positive prognosis, tells how incredibly well little Josh is handling it all (including spinal taps), how his siblings are being so courageous and helpful. She tells of her gratefulness for their guardians who were able to sweep in and take the kids home when they unexpectedly admitted Josh that very first day and the two times he's been hospitalized since. How it helped her other three kids to not be anxious about what was going on because they were so familiar with this family. How they haven’t had to worry about her husband’s job, or to be in the middle of a frantic job search right now because of the solid change they made a year ago.
She was full of praises for a loving God, and for the blessings they have in their life that have made all of this so much easier. She was, truth be told, jovial. She was not telling me of how horrible their year has been. She was not catching me up on all the “bad news” of her family. She was telling me of how blessed they are. How GREAT things are going, how WELL Josh is now. She even enclosed a picture and commented on how God has placed a bubble around little Josh as he hasn’t had many of the nasty side-effects of Chemo to date, the picture showing a happy little boy with a head full of hair.
I have heard it said, and have believed within my own life that you shouldn’t “sweat the small stuff”. It seems so easy to do when it’s just the starter on the car, or just the cable going out. But in the face of her young son diagnosed with leukemia, my dear friend Julie has reminded me that it is ALL small stuff in the hands of God.
May God continue to bless you and your family, Julie.
I could tell you about George, who sat down after lunch on Sunday with a fork ready for “cake and ice cream, Mom!” only to have it explained to him that cake and ice cream was being served after lunch at the nursing home they had visited earlier that morning, NOT at George’s house.
I could write about our search for a back-up alternative to our usual do-it-yourself dog wash ($2) that has been closed for a month, that led us to PetSmart and a quote of $32 for a mastiff and another place that was so creepy-bizarre I wouldn’t go in there even WITH my 200-pound dog.
I could write about our cable escapades, how in an effort to fix our “On Demand” issues, the tech totally wiped out our DVR (44% full of movies at the time). Very Comcastic, Indeed.
I could write about so many themes today, but admittedly, my mind is elsewhere.
On Friday, LM took a phone message for me from a college friend of mine who had lost my email address. I was supposed to see her and her family last fall, but by strange set of circumstances, didn’t end up able to. I hadn’t heard from her since, and was thrilled that she had called and quickly sent off an email asking her how everything was.
This morning I received the reply.
Her email told me of how thankful she was that her husband had seen the writing on the wall and changed jobs a year ago, to a different news station in the city, and had recently received a promotion and a 3-year contract. Just a couple weeks ago, his former station gave all employees two-weeks notice and shut their doors.
She told me about how they had changed their will after the twins were born, to name different guardians when they became a family with four kids instead of just two. The family they named agreed to be guardians but only if they had regular contact with the kids even now, so should anything happen, they would all know each other well. She told me how great this relationship has been and how much her kids love going over to their guardians’ house.
And then she told me about Josh, one of her twin boys that might be 3 or 4. How he had developed spots of petechiae last fall, and seemed to have more bruises than her other, rough-housing twin. She took him to the doctor; who immediately called in a second doctor; they sent her to the children’s hospital where they ran blood tests. Right then and there Josh was admitted for the next 10 days with a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He’s been undergoing Chemo every week, in and out of the hospital every time he runs a fever, and sometimes having to stay inside for a week at a time to caution against getting an infection when his counts are low.
But she goes on to say that if you’re going to get Leukemia, this is the one to get. She gives the positive prognosis, tells how incredibly well little Josh is handling it all (including spinal taps), how his siblings are being so courageous and helpful. She tells of her gratefulness for their guardians who were able to sweep in and take the kids home when they unexpectedly admitted Josh that very first day and the two times he's been hospitalized since. How it helped her other three kids to not be anxious about what was going on because they were so familiar with this family. How they haven’t had to worry about her husband’s job, or to be in the middle of a frantic job search right now because of the solid change they made a year ago.
She was full of praises for a loving God, and for the blessings they have in their life that have made all of this so much easier. She was, truth be told, jovial. She was not telling me of how horrible their year has been. She was not catching me up on all the “bad news” of her family. She was telling me of how blessed they are. How GREAT things are going, how WELL Josh is now. She even enclosed a picture and commented on how God has placed a bubble around little Josh as he hasn’t had many of the nasty side-effects of Chemo to date, the picture showing a happy little boy with a head full of hair.
I have heard it said, and have believed within my own life that you shouldn’t “sweat the small stuff”. It seems so easy to do when it’s just the starter on the car, or just the cable going out. But in the face of her young son diagnosed with leukemia, my dear friend Julie has reminded me that it is ALL small stuff in the hands of God.
May God continue to bless you and your family, Julie.
Comments
That post was beautiful.