A bug!

Yesterday started out normal. I went to the nursery and found some indoor plants, did the usual stuff around the house and then.... BAM! A flu virus.

How do these little bugs enter your body? I mean, where are they lurking? On the plants I was handling, or on the sandwich from the deli across the street from the nursery? And what, exactly, is it doing inside our bodies to make us feel so bad?

24 hours later and I'm finally starting to feel like I'll survive, but I wish there was some kind warning light we could carry around with us to illuminate those nasty little germs. Some kind of horn that could go off - or maybe an I-Phone app. Now that would be an app worth paying for!

Meet Lilly

Okay, time to come back and check in with my adult friends. I've been busy watching so many Backyardigan episodes with my two-year-old grandson that I can literally sing their theme song.
It is snowing here in Portland, not a norm in this rainy city. In fact, my sister-in-law is stuck near her home and the police are not allowing her up a steep hill. So my husband is off in our four-wheel-drive, headed across town to help her out. So while I'm waiting for his safe return, I thought I'd introduce you to Lilly. Lilly is our great-niece and she just turned three years old.

Our little girl is very tiny. She is struggling with an illness for which the doctors do not have a definitive diagnoses. Around age one she quit eating normally and became very ill with ear infections, pneumonia, and other illnesses. Since that time she has been through countless tests and doctor's visits, and is currently seeing specialists in Seattle. They have said that she has super low B and T cells and non-functional antibodies. They have been giving her immunoglobulin G by IV to give her a boost. They know that she has many other symptoms like low appetite/slow growth but so far nothing to tie everything together. She has short telomeres and they think she might have some previously unknown form of Dyskeratosis Congenita.

Despite all of these hurdles she remains a joy to all of us who know her. Her hardworking parents divide their time between jobs, school, and caring for Lilly. In March they will go to Disneyworld as part of the Make A Wish program that will be granting a wish to Lilly, who is all things "princess." We can't wait to hear all about it!

In the meantime she had a very special visit with Santa. After waiting in line at Macys, for what seemed like forever, it was finally her turn. She had been worried about the visit, more than a little frightened. But then she just took off and ran to him, wrapping her arms around the jolly gent and proceeded to hug him intensely for what seemed like forever, not letting go long enough for her mother to get a good picture! After the bear hug, she proceeded to talk to him in what her mother described as a "strangely intense" manner for about five minutes! Her mother couldn't hear what she was saying, but the kindly Santa was quite taken with his tiny visitor, and told her mother she could come back anytime. (Click on the photo to see their expressions.)

We don't know what they talked about, but we do believe in miracles. So please say a prayer, or send healing energy to our little darling. 2010 is going to be a great year for Lilly!

Bugs

The bug has bitten. All that hugging over Thanksgiving! All three of my siblings had been really sick the week before, and like all good siblings they shared what they had. I hope it's H1N1 so I can just get it over with. I'll probably spend the week catching up with all of you. Now where did I put that Tylenol...

Life Stages

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

We are visiting with several generations of family this week. I'm enjoying all the stages of life, from my grandson at 22 months, who is just learning to communicate, my daughter and son-in-law with all of the stresses and fun of a new family, and my youngest, fresh out of college. We are in the mix, grandparents who are semi-retired due to the worst economy in our lifetime.

My grandson is the glue. He keeps everyone entertained and always hopeful. He is a joy to be around. We all adore him, and he responds in kind. My youngest is looking for new roommates, more in line with the things she likes to do. We bore her with our staying home at night and lack of enthusiasm for music festivals and bluegrass.

My older daughter and son-in-law, on the other hand, find grandparents very useful. Having a built-in babysitter, and others willing to entertain said grandson is valuable. Never to be underestimated. Freeing.

We are also visiting my mother-in-law, recently widowed and 97 years old. She lives in a lovely retirement home, but as she becomes more fragile, we are waiting for that time when we will move her from her small apartment to assisted living. That time may be very soon.

We are in the post-mid part of our life. Young enough to enjoy it, and old enough to know better than to take it for granted. We watch friends our own age struggle with life-threatening illnesses, and we know that for this moment in time we are blessed. Our family intact, our health stable. But we are also sandwiched, like so many of you. Aging parents, children struggling to get a foothold in life.

All the life stages. All with beauty and uncertainty.

I guess that's what it's all about. Enjoying the ride. It careens right along, sweeping us up, moving us along, and eventually it puts us down. It's the sweet moments, the sunsets, the laughs, the kisses, that make it all worthwhile. A good reminder to pay attention to those moments. When all is said and done, it's our memories and the things we paid attention to that will determine a life well-lived ... or not.

In that Moment...

I was trying to have a conversation with my daughter today while her toddler bounced around the room, either hurting himself or getting into something he shouldn't. The conversation was about trying to hang on in this economy. Her husband has a lucrative sales job that is not as lucrative as it was last year. Like most young families, she is trying to stretch herself and their resources, to make ends meet. In between picking him up to kiss an owie and tell him to get off/out of something, she sounded harried and exhausted, but also strangely happy.

I started thinking about happiness. How you can always be happy if you are in the moment. By that I mean, just taking a small second to be aware of all the good that is around you. Just right at that very moment. 

I remember finding out I had a brain tumor. I was 33 years old, with a six year old daughter, and one eighteen months. My mother had died when I was six, so this year of my daughter's life was very poignant for me. 

It came out of the blue - one minute I was just fine - swimming a mile a day in the community pool and the next I was on my way to LA for some serious surgery. I was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma - which is a tumor wrapped around the acoustic nerve on the brainstem side. It was thought to be benign, but not in a good location, and rather large in size. In the end, I lost my hearing on one side, my face was temporarily and completely paralyzed on one side, one eye not tearing at all. I had to wear this ugly eye patch that was see-through. To say I was odd looking is an understatement! But whenever I started to feel sorry for myself, in that moment, all I could feel was incredibly lucky! Lucky to be alive, lucky to have a beautiful family, an incredible husband, to have a future. There were so many others dealing with so much more. So, because it was so easy to feel sorry for myself, and my family needed me to be strong, I tried to stay in the moment as much as possible. It really was the only way to get through it and recover. 

I sensed my daughter doing that today. She was busy, harassed, worried. But then her son would do something endearing or funny. And in that exact moment she was happy. Nothing else mattered.