Sisters

Below is an email I was sent today. After spending an uplifting weekend with several 'sisters' in my life I can't agree more with what this email speaks about. However, I could replace 'sisters' with 'those you care about' because it's not always a gender thing. Some of those I'd consider my 'sisters' don't have the same anatomy as me, if you catch my drift, yet they've been there through the years and will continue to have a place in my heart and my life.


A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter. 'Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them.' 

'Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women...your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women always do.'

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'

But she listened to her mother. She kept contact with her sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her mother really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, sisters are the mainstays of her life.

After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've learned:

THIS SAYS IT ALL :  

   Time passes.

   Life happens.

   Distance separates.

   Children grow up.

   Jobs come and go.

   Love waxes and wanes.

   Men don't do what they're supposed to do.

   Hearts break.

   Parents die.

   Colleagues forget favors.

   Careers end.

   BUT.........

 

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you....Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family: all bless our life!

The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still. Share this with all the women who help make your life meaningful.

Parents pain - sick babies

For some reason my mobile posts don't always come through right. This was supposed to be posted Tuesday, April 8 at 10:45pm.

At lunch today I get a call from Rawley's daycare. Not one of his teachers and it didn't start with "Rawley's fine but" so the radar goes up. Rawley woke up from his nap early and they said he was burning up. Took his temp and it immediately went to 101. You know how that goes. A low grade fever the thermometer takes forever and a day to max out and beep that it's finished because it keeps ticking up .2 degrees at a time. Not high fevers. They're like the carnival game where you use the sledgehammer and hit the target to try and get the disk to rise and strike the bell at the top. Ding! Winner! Rawley was at 101.5. But more importantly they noticed he was having troubles breathing.  His teachers called this lady to consult. I think her name was Sarah. Sarah said she observed him and he was taking short shallow breaths with a little wheeze. He'd had his breathing treatment (daily maintenance of pulmacort) at 11 like normal. They wanted me to come get him cuz of the fever but more importantly wanted him to be checked out by a doc. I called Dr. Bergstein's office to see who could see him (spring break week) and Riddell could see him at 4p, fine.

When I got to daycare the kids were still on their cots for nap time. Rawley was lying on his tummy with his legs curled up under him. He didn't even lift his head when I walked in and said his name. That is unheard of! I could see the concern on his teacher's faces which was very sweet. I kneeled down next to him, put my face near his and pushed his hair back. First off, he was on fire. His little head was so warm. They'd put a cold wash cloth around his neck to help soothe him. Secondly, he STILL didn't reach out for me. He just laid there kinda grunting as he breathed. I scooped him up and he snuggled into my chest, finally some recognition! He was like a heating pad! I got the rundown again and he'd been breathing like that since 12:30. It was 2:30. Way too long to be working that hard to move air. They helped me gather his back pack and breathing machine and we took off. I called the dr from the parking lot to see of there was any way they could get me in earlier. I told them I had Rawley with me now and wasn't comfortable with how hard he was working to breathe. His nostrils were flairing, he was lethargic and I dint know what the grunting was about. Prior to this we've always kept our ears open for a wheeze to signify a dr appt was needed. I got transferred to a nurse and she said I could take him to the ER but if I wanted to swing by they'd get me in right away. I opted to go to the dr first. Daycare, hospital and dr are all right there at 116th and meridian.

Terri the nurse was waiting at the checking desk when I walked in. She got us right back to a room, took his temp which was now 102.6 and said Dr. Riddell would be right in. He took a listen, said there wasn't any crackle in his chest, his ears were fairly clear - a little fluid in the right but he was in respiratory distress. He wanted to do an albuterol breathing treatment to see if that would have an impact. We ended up doing two. For the most part Rawley just sat facing me on my lap with his head buried on my chest. I was so worried because he is not a calm little guy, he likes to move and talk and explore. I was also sweating to death having his hot body cuddled against mine.  After the 2nd treatment they took his o2 sats and he was at 92 but the nurse shook her head and said "I don't trust that." Rawley's heart rate was 170-180 and his respirations weren't outside normal according to the doc. Since the albuterol seemed to help he said to keep with the pulmacort and antibiotic he was on for an upper respiratory infection but to add albuterol every 3-4hrs even during the night and start a liquid steroid. If Rawley started to sound like he did when I first got there to head to an ER. Doc asked about any new pets in the house or paint or smokers and when none of those applied, said it was probably something viral that triggered his attack. I asked if Madi should be around Rawley and he didn't recommend it. We're always more contagious when a fever's present.

My Mom picked Madi up from school. Madi is having a sleep over at Nana and Papa's house tonight. It's just me and Rawley...and the boys...and Rawley's germs. Sweet!


I started writing all this because I went into Rawley's room to do a breathing treatment. On the monitor it looked like he was asleep but he wasn't. Had a little crying fit during the treatment and started grunt breathing again. He was already breathing short and shallow when we started. So his displeasure at the treatment only made his breathing worse. Right now he's cuddled on my chest (shout out to Dad for bringing over the blue rocker & blue recliner!) I'm typing and praying, praying to take the pain away. His pain and my pain. I know I will make it through this but it hurts so much right now.

Toe tapping thanks

I started a daily responsibilities/chore chart for Madi. It's fairly basic with things like wake up happy, get dressed, pick up toys, no fuss bedtime. 

When Madi does things on the list she gets to put a sticker up. Tonight we counted and she had 20 stickers on the chart so she gets a gift. I picked up a pair of tap shoes this weekend and had them wrapped up, ready to give since I knew we were close to 20. She'd been talking about tap shoes for a couple weeks; must've picked that up at school. When I saw this pair in her size for $1 I couldn't pass it up.

When Madi opened them up she was a bit excited. We had to move into my bathroom so she could tap her heart out (without waking Rawley.) I made sure to let her know how much I appreciated her doing big girl chores. Hopefully the excitement and motivation won't wear off!

She asked this morning if she could wear her tap shoes to school. Unfortunately I had to say No, it would make too much noise when you walked. If that little smartie pants didn't fire back, but Mom school is all carpeted!! Heaven help me, she's too smart for her britches. I'm planning on a night full of tapping as soon as we get home.

all about perspective

I absolutely love this. It reminds me of how much we look for the easy answer or easy way. The classic I want versus You need.

Stop. Breathe. Feel.

Stop. Listen.
Feel.
Breathe.

What is ONE THING I could do today that has nothing to do with the roles I play and feeds my soul?

Who am I beneath all my roles?
What brings me joy?

It's important to feed my body, mind and soul. If I'm going to ask for my daily bread, I have to take the time to receive it and eat it. God provides but I've gotta slow down long enough to taste & see. I cannot say that my list of things to do is too long to slow down and feed myself. Simply put:  I eat or I die. And when I eat, give thanks for that which I've been given. Not that which I've earned because that would be nothing.

There are URGENT things and then there are IMPORTANT things and no matter how much URGENT there is - I must fit a few truly IMPORTANT things into my day or the urgent things will consume me every day forever and ever until I die. It's inconvenient - especially in a culture that worships productivity and busyness for the busyness' sake and efficiency. Why do we allow ourselves to be so ruled by stupid things that will cause nothing but regret in hindsight?
         
If joy is so far out of reach that I'm not sure what it even means anymore, how can I expect to be healthy? If I can't remember how to feed myself, how am I still healthy?



Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.