Life and Death

 My youngest was recently gifted ten dollars in a card from Grandma Judy.  It's a regular occurrence to open the mailbox and find an envelope from Grandma Judy that has smiley faces, love, and cash inside.  The question was clear:  how to spend the money?

After weeks of pondering options, it was decided.  A fish, because a guinea pig was absolutely denied!  A date was selected when we would actually have time in between obligations to make the purchase.  It seemed the obvious choice to go where we go for everything else in our life:  WalMart.  We could get a fish, a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter.

A big black fish was chosen and named Emperor Kuzco in honor of our very favorite Disney movie "The Emperor's New Groove."  In the movie, the Emperor is turned into a lama.  In real life, our Emperor turned into a fish floating on it's side the morning after we got it.

The Emperor's death led to a great discussion on life and death.  Then we did what we should have done in the first place:  went to an actual pet store where someone could tell us the best choice to make and give us suggestions for sustaining life.

We've kept our new beta fish, named Inca, alive for three days now and we couldn't be more pleased.  Life is good.      

Go Figure

Yesterday while supervising kindergarten recess I asked a boy not to touch some of the teacher's supplies that were outside her door.  His response was immediate, polite, and came in the form of a question:  "Is it OK if my hand hovers above it?" 

Kids these days.  Go figure. 

Politics

My spunky 16-year old is running for student council.  Things like student elections, cheerleader/dance tryouts and sports tryouts make parents nervous.  But sticking your neck out is good for kids and life lessons can be learned. 

Here are some slogans we've used:

Bark if you're voting Clark!
Don't be left in the dark, vote Clark.
Vote Clark, give PineView some spark.
Make your mark for Clark.

Here are some slogans that got vetoed:

Vote Clark, or get eaten by a shark!
Vote Clark, she's endorsed by Tony Stark.
Vote Clark, you'll be as happy as a lark!
Vote Clark, she'll hit it out of the park.

Perhaps she should just say:  Change We Can Believe In.  That seemed to work. 
 

Carpe Diem

Seize the day.  That's my goal.  More often than not I'm just trying to get through the day.  If I can just get to tomorrow, the weekend, the end of the month.   But I don't want to live for tomorrow.  I want to live today.   Days keep turning into nights and nights into days and I'm left wondering if I just went through the motions.



Not today.  Today I will complement cashiers and fast food workers.  Today I will help a coworker.  Today I will make a meaningful connection with my husband and make time to communicate individually with my children.  Today I will smile and look for opportunities to laugh.

My mom gave me a picture for my home, I'll bet you have one like it.  It says "Live.  Laugh.  Love."  Today I plan to.  She also reminds me regularly that the present is a gift.  Today I plan to embrace the gift.  Today I will find joy in the journey!

Miracle

Miracle is defined as "an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause."  We experienced a miracle this past Friday. 

The time had come to check my boy's back to see if the brace he wears 18 hours each day is doing what it's supposed to.  It's supposed to keep his curvature from getting worse.  We visited with Dr. Smith and he explained to us that bracing works for 70% of kids who use them.  The other 30% continue to experience more curvature despite the brace.  Oh how I prayed to be in that 70 percentile.  He also explained how bracing can't fix curves, only stop them from getting worse. 

Here's where it gets interesting.  My son's curve has been measured at 33 degrees since it's discovery during his first year of life.  This past Fall we found his curve has worsened to 39 degrees, making the brace a necessity.  So you can imagine my shock this past weekend when his x-rays showed his curve to be 29 degrees! 

I looked to the doctor for explanation.  He had none.  I asked if we could toss the brace in the dumpster on the way out.  He said no.  We'll continue to wear the brace as long as the boy's growing to help prevent further curving and quite possibly to straighten the curve more, even though it's technically not possible. 

Hallelujah is defined as "praise the Lord!"

Cool

Don't know about where you live, but where we live it's warming up.  Matter of fact, we flipped the thermostat switch from "heat" to "cool."  Yeah baby.  In celebration I'm posting a summertime recipe here.  Enjoy!

Dear Old Dad

My dad was the best.  Nicest guy you'd ever meet.  Humble.  Full of love.  How I miss that guy.  He was 53 when we noticed his behavior was a bit strange.  He'd get lost coming home from work, not know how to get familiar places, and forget a lot of things.  Many doctor visits confirmed his diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer's. 

It was a difficult diagnosis to come to terms with, especially at such a young age.  Dad called it "Big Al."  He faced it courageously and became my bosom buddy so mom could keep working and provide their income.  For two years we did everything together.  Did I say everything?  I meant EVERYTHING.  It was awesome.  Two years I wouldn't give up for anything.  Difficult?  To say the least.  Rewarding?  More than you will ever know.  At 55 his battle ended and now my bosom buddy is my guardian angel.

Mom wrote a book about "Life with Big Al."  It was her greatest desire, still is, to help others who care for loved ones whose lives have been interrupted by a visit from Big Al.  The book is a diary of dad's decline and ways we coped with it.  It is also a grand expression of love. 

If someone you know or love is negotiating Alzheimer's, feel free to get in touch with the woman I am blessed to call "mom."  You can reach her, and order her book if you like, at her website.