Pain Uncovered

Tonight Katie was reading a book to Ethan and I about a little boy who had the Chicken Pox.  As the story unfolded, Ethan began to ask me questions about what Chicken Pox are and how do you get them.  Ethan has always been a probing questioner and I thought that this was just the beginning of the usual barrage of questions that are precipitated by some new concept.  I was wrong.  This question would lead us down a path of discussion that I did not anticipate.

I began to answer his questions about Chicken Pox as soon as the story was done.  I explained what they were and I also told him that he had them when he was still in China.  The thought of this seemed to really upset him; much more than I knew at the time.  He got very quiet which is quite unlike him and then about a minute later he looked up at me with tears in his eyes.  I asked him what was wrong; why was he so sad?  I could see that he was doing everything in his power to hold the tears back and so I told him that if he was sad that he could tell me what was upsetting him.  He began to cry very hard and told me that he was sad and scared when he was in China and was sick with the Chicken Pox.  He kept asking why he got them there and where were we?!?  I tried to explain in the simplest of terms that we wanted to be there so badly but that we were waiting on permission from the officials in China to come and adopt him.  He kept re[eating over and over about about how he was so scared he was when he was sick and that why did those people in China not let us come to get him quicker.....it totally broke my heart.  I just held him close and told affirmed that of course he was scared but that he need never be scared again, as he would always have him family around him when he was sick forever and ever.

I know in my heart that this deeply buried memory was really of when he was in the hospital with no one by his side for well over a month for his open heart surgery.  How much pain did he endure without so much as a loving touch?  How may days did he wake up in pain with no one to tell him that it was all going to be OK and be by his side?  He does not consciously remember this but his psyche sure does and that experience lives inside him and impacts how he deals with the world on a daily basis.  He has many coping mechanisms that he exercises each day and that we are trying to help him resolve.

We started him in play therapy about 2 months ago and took a break due to finances but now that my new insurance has kicked in we are going to be starting again.  I know there are so many feelings that our little guy needs to work through but I am grateful that he felt safe enough with me tonight to begin to release the pain.

Closing Day!

My kids have just closed on their first home.

I had the good fortune to be not only the Realtor who facilitated the purchase of the home but also the photographer at the closing table.

There are lots of great deals out there but getting them closed is much more of challenge than ever. 

Thankfully, good things come to those who wait and are patient.

My belief is that life hands you sweet moments; moments that are pure joy!

I am thankful that I was a part of their joy today.

I think that my son looks very "lawyerly" here!

Congratulations to Justin and Judy.  May your life be filled with many joyful moments!

PS  A special thank you to my dear friend Kira who was the closer on this transaction.  She was amazing! 

Daddy's Boy

A Cautionary Tale

Tonight, Marc was bathing the children while I was out at a meeting.  Marc always lets the DD play for awhile and then gets down to bathing them.  When he finishes cleaning them off and begins to let the water drain, they always enjoy their last few minutes in the water....Katie loves to lay her head back and pretend to float in the shallow water. 

Tonight's bathing episode ended on a much different note than any in the past.  As Katie laid back, her hair floated down into the drain and before Marc knew it, her long hair began to weave around the metal on the inside of the drain and became caught.  Marc tried to free her and the hair began winding and tangling more and more while pulling her hair and head down.  Thankfully, he handled it well and was able to get it all untangled and free her.  It took more than a couple of minutes to do that though and a great deal of patience.

On the surface, you may think that the biggest concern here was her hair and possibly losing several inches of it, as at one point Marc thought he may have to cut most of it off in order to free her!  It is much more serious than that.  If he had walked away to get a phone call or to do anything else, she may have been drawn down beneath the waters surface with no way to free herself and possibly could have drowned.

That is why I am sharing this.  Please...anytime there is water involved....do not leave your children alone.  A minute may be the difference between life and death.  Tonight was proof positive of that fact!

I am back

Happy New Year! I have taken a bit of a break; mostly because I was pretty burnt and the last thing that you need to do when you are burnt is just one more thing. That "one more thing" among others was blogging.

I now need to get back into my normal rhythm; which includes blogging. I have always loved my blog...it has been such an outlet for me. My photography is also a creative outlet for me. I decided to do a 365 Blog and post a pic each day beginning today. You can find my photography blog here.

Quick update;

I have a new job.

The DD are doing well. Our holiday season was wonderful and they are doing well in school.

The bigs (Justin and Judy) are in the process of purchasing their first home with my help as a real estate agent.

Katie's eyesight is stable at this time. Our Vision Walk was a major success. We raised more money than any South Florida Team has ever raised. Over $13,000.00 and still counting!! The Foundation was blown away by our success but really, who would not want to help a 5 year old little girl who is losing her eyesight?  They have now asked us to allow Katie to be the face of their national membership fundraising campaign for 2011. We are so proud that our amazing little girl will help the Foundation Fighting Blindness to raise awareness and money so that treatments and/or a cure can be found.

2010 was a very stressful and difficult year in for our family.  Not just because of Katie's diagnosis but for many other reasons, most of which are financial.  So many of us are in the same boat, so I know that you get it!

I will write more soon about her and this journey we are on with her but in the meantime I am here to report that we are taking it a day at a time and we know that we will deal with all of this together as a family. That is all that matters.

May 2011 be good to all of us.  I am going to take matters in my own hands and try hard to make it so.  I am going to pursue my passions more frequently and  I am going to be better to my body, mind and soul.

Thank you for continuing to follow along.  It means more than you will ever know......