This Year

Christmas this year was so different. It was good. It was sad. It was Happy, it was.

We have known from the birth of our dear Ava that her time here on Earth is limited.

But, knowing is not always good. Knowing this, every time she sneezes, we worry more than we would have before she came. If she gets a cold, it could kill her. It almost did. Just after Thanksgiving, on the 30th of November, she had to go to the hospital again. She had been congested for a long time. Lacey, her Mom, even took her to the Doctor about it. She was given medicine to give her on top of all the other medicines she was already on.

We met them at the Emergency entrance of the local Hospital for the second time. It was about 10 at night. The world looks so different at night than in the daytime. I remember the night Ava arrived we had met them in the same place. You see, we pick up Hunter and bring him home with us. That warm August night was beautiful. The stars were shining and the Moon was full. That does not describe how beautiful it was, you will have to imagine it. I am rarely awake that time of the night, and even more rarely outside. We should all make a point of going outside just to behold the gorgeousness of it. (that probably isn't a word, but it should be) We brought Hunter home the night Ava arrived. I realized on our way to my house that we did not have any milk for him. Would you believe this? We stopped at Casey's convenient store. It was 2:30 a.m.! I did not realize how unusual that this was until much later on. Why that young man was there at that time is beyond me, but he was. We got a gallon of milk and were on our way. I wonder if he had to figure up his tallies and did not have a chance to do it while open? I will never know, but I could not thank him enough times that night. This time we had milk. We keep some on hand now as my husband and I are drinking more of it than ever before in our lives. (trying to live right) We got home and of course Hunter did not want to go right to bed, and we did not expect him to. He had slept a bit in the van on the way to meet us. Just enough to refresh him. We were worked up anyway and did not feel like trying to sleep ourselves. As we waited in the parking lot, I noticed how wonderful the sky looked again. Regardless of the reason for our being there, it could not be denied. I sat and just looked at it. We had seen the Christmas lights of the town on our way there. It was the only time I was in that town at night all Christmas season. I imagine how it looked to those Shepards and Kings and all others the night of the baby Jesus birth. It might not have been as cold as it gets here, but I bet the sky still had that beauty. We take so much for granted in this life. Little things. Things we have forgotten or are too busy to notice anymore. People, slow down a bit. Enjoy where you are. Too soon it will be gone. Ava was life flighted a second time to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. They must all know her by name by now. She was there until the 19th of December. She is such a fighter! Ava will decide when she leaves us. She must have a straight phone line to the big guy. We are all learning so much from having her with us. She shows us how precious life is. She teaches us that just being able to breathe is a gift! They have found a new formula that we are hoping will help keep the "gurgle" away. We joke that she is our little percolator. She sounds like the old fashioned coffepot when it is perking. We have also retained our sense of humor. I have run out of a path for this writing, so will publish it now and think about editing it later. Hugs all. As I have come to be known as "Grandma Kate"