Last New Years Eve
We celebrated Derek's 10th Birthday tonight. Just a cozy family gathering, us and Tom and Elaine. Derek chose his most favorite dessert to celebrate, Fudge Brownies! As I put the candles on the pan of brownies the number of years Derek has been alive is totally freaking me out! Where has 10 years gone? He is growing into such a wonderful young man. He and Jack are currently wiggling and tossing and turning trying their best to go to sleep, tomorrow morning we leave early for the Dallas Cowboys game at noon. Derek is more excited than I have EVER seen him. He will be wearing his new Romo jersey he received from Rob's dad for his birthday, and carrying a pocketful of cash that he has received from other family members to spend at the game.
Derek said this was his favorite birthday and Christmas ever. As he was buzzing around the living room shooting Jack, who was shooting back, with his new laser guns he received for his birthday, Elaine reminded me that last year we had to cut short Derek's birthday party because Jack was sick and we had to take him to Cook's hospital in Ft. Worth. Last New Years Eve happened while we were walking through the pediatric cancer ward, pushing Jack in a wheel chair, following a nurse to his room. Jack's immune system had bottomed out due to chemo and he had something going on in his body that had caused him to have a fever. He needed to be admitted and put on iv antibiotics to help his body fight the infection. That was a scary night. As we watched the clock turn to midnight, I knew that people all around the states, back home in Abilene, were celebrating the New Year and we were looking into faces of other families that were holding onto their children's lives and just trying to make it to the next day without falling apart, physically and emotionally. I call that "hospital world," a world that co-exists with the rest of the world, but is totally different. A world where time just stops inside those walls.
I am grateful for the year we have had, we are truly blessed. A mighty God we long to serve, a family that sticks like glue to our sides, and friends that are treasured jewels.
These are the days we will remember for ever.
Derek said this was his favorite birthday and Christmas ever. As he was buzzing around the living room shooting Jack, who was shooting back, with his new laser guns he received for his birthday, Elaine reminded me that last year we had to cut short Derek's birthday party because Jack was sick and we had to take him to Cook's hospital in Ft. Worth. Last New Years Eve happened while we were walking through the pediatric cancer ward, pushing Jack in a wheel chair, following a nurse to his room. Jack's immune system had bottomed out due to chemo and he had something going on in his body that had caused him to have a fever. He needed to be admitted and put on iv antibiotics to help his body fight the infection. That was a scary night. As we watched the clock turn to midnight, I knew that people all around the states, back home in Abilene, were celebrating the New Year and we were looking into faces of other families that were holding onto their children's lives and just trying to make it to the next day without falling apart, physically and emotionally. I call that "hospital world," a world that co-exists with the rest of the world, but is totally different. A world where time just stops inside those walls.
I am grateful for the year we have had, we are truly blessed. A mighty God we long to serve, a family that sticks like glue to our sides, and friends that are treasured jewels.
These are the days we will remember for ever.
Comments