A Little Reflection

I was re-reading some of my older posts. It is amazing how much my kids have changed, yet still stayed the same. Chris still has his issues with anger, although the tantrums/meltdowns have gotten further apart and less scary. Cassidy has not had any hospital visits since last June and we are finally seeing a doctor close to us that will hopefully mean some answers. And Barry, well is still a little boy with huge dreams.  And me, well, I am not 100% sure exactly how much I have changed, but I know I have.

I find myself caring more about the hurts of other people. I have always cared and been more than willing to pray for other people, but now I find myself much more impacted by stories I hear. The illnesses of people I have never met, the damage done in a tornado to people whose names I do not know, the soldiers killed in battle, while these always bothered me, now I cry for them. I am not complaining at all, but I did not realize how much this changed until I re-read the posts of not just me but others' too.

With my life, like so many people around me, SO incredibly busy, I find myself shocked that I care so much more. I am not whining about this, but I would have expected to be more jaded toward the hurts of others. I have seen people I know and care about getting more blasé about life and what is going on in the world and it really bothers me.  I get discouraged to see people close up and quick caring.   Why is it that the only time people seem to care is when something drastic occurs (tornado, earthquake, death)?  What happened to the people how care about the little things (illness, depression, loneliness)?  Not that to the people experiencing these things ever feel like the issues are small. 

 

Every once in a while, someone will surprise me and do the opposite of the rest of the world.  I have seen the people who smile even when they are in terrible pain just to make someone's day or give every penny to a friend when the friend needs help.  I am glad I feel more for others.  I would hate to be one of the people who do not care anymore.  I hope I continue to care.

Long Time In Coming

Well, I did warn you that it would be a while before I posted again. I have found myself slightly overwhelmed will volunteer stuff. (I think I need to learn to say NO!) To be honest I have no idea what I said in my last blog, so I will start fairly early in this school year. In September, Cassidy and I went to Riley Children's Hospital. She saw a specialist there and I was excited to maybe start getting some answers. Unfortunately, we did not make it to another appointment. My car broke down and my mother was in an accident, so we did not have a way to get there. We kind of muddled through the fall and winter, no hospital visits, but may bouts of illnesses. In March, Cassidy got sick yet again. The doctor put her on an antibiotic and oral steroid. The following week we were back at the doctor and he put her on another 5 day dose of oral steroids. We were at the ER that Saturday night (which just happened to be my birthday) with her breathing trouble. The doctor there said she had a viral sinus infection and he put her on a nasal spray and benedryl to dry her out. That did not work and we were back at the doctor on Wednesday of the following week. The doctor then decided that she needed to refer us to an asthma specialist here in Portage and she had her nurse make us an appointment for the first available time. We ended up back at the ER that Friday. The doctor there put her back on an oral steroid and almost admitted her. Thankfully her pulse ox went from 89 to 100 after two breathing treatments and a dose of very powerful medicine. We went to the specialist last Thursday and he said that her problems probably are immune system related and not an allergy issue. She is getting a CAT scan done on Friday of next week. Hopefully this will get us some much needed answers.
That is the major update about Cassidy. Now for the minor stuff. Christopher has bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. He went on his first official overnight camping trip with them the weekend of my birthday. He had a very good time and is excited about going on another trip. Barry is now a Webelos Scout. He has two more years in Cub Scouts before he bridges to Boy Scouts. He is kind of glad that his brother is not in his pack anymore. Both boys are doing well in school and things are pretty smooth in that area of life. All three kids really like school and that makes me a happy mom. Cassidy is a Junior Girl Scout. Her troop has done quite a bit this year. They wrote and acted out a play about roles women play and they had a really god time with that. Now they are making a "Life Quilt" that has panels with words like bullying, acceptance, friendship, etc. On the quilt are also the words the girls came up with to describe these words or the feeling that they feel when they here the words. The quilt is being given to the principal to hang in the school.
I do not know how much you all want to here about me, but here it is. I am the PTO vice-president (not a job I ever expected to have.) I am the Girl Scout coordinator for our school. That means I answer any questions from the other leaders and I had to find the leaders in the first place. This job I like :). I am on the Cub Scout committee and do a lot to help them out. I run Market Day for our school and don't really mind this job. I almost feel that I live at the school. It makes for an interesting adventure.
My family is doing well. Jenny surprised us on Easter. No one expected to see her since New York is pretty far away. Nick and Krista and Andrew are doing well. Matt and Becky and Gretchen and Lucas are fine. Lucas really likes the beach. Mom is visiting Maria and Joel right now and they are fine also. Elena is teaching ceramics classes at the studio where she does her art work. Alex and Jackie and Alexis and Felicity are still in Azerbaijan. I haven't seen them in a while. I hope to see them when they come home for the summer. :) I know this a bit of a rambling account, but it seems to be the easiest way to update everything. Hopefully it will not be this long before I write again.