Catching Up

Plunge in with both feet. Now that I have met my grandson, I need to focus on work. There are so many aspects to think about. Back to desk duty. Back to meetings. Back to handling all those little questions that arise in the course of a day. Back to music and singing and choir. Back to writing and reading and research. Back to friends and praying and patients. Back to appointments and procedures and exercising. Back to driving and cooking and cleaning. Back to papers and walking Sugar and getting the mail.

How grateful I am that I am able to live! How happy to have a fulfilling life and lots to occupy my time. How great is it that I have family and friends and colleagues? What a blessed and fortunate person I am to find myself in the midst of a productive and pleasant way of life. I settle in with joy, not minding the tiredness. Just thankful that I have moved beyond immediate danger and into a place of recovery. To life!

On the Road Again

No chance to make the return trip in a 2 day way. I need to get back and so does Kiel. Besides, the rental car is due. We leave later than I would have liked to, but manage to find the way I wanted to come in the first place. It is shorter and involves more super highway driving. I am worn to a bare thread and grateful I do not need to drive. Every turn of the tires takes me farther from my babies and my heart is sad. I already miss them terribly, especially the baby. The trip home is without incident. I return the car, unpack and fall into my own cozy bed for which I am ever so grateful.

I am glad I went. I have some sense that I will not be able to go for awhile - not sure if bad weather is on the way or I just won't have the resources to go. I want to wave a magic wand and be able to see them much more often, but I have no magic that can eliminate the miles between us. Maybe it is just as well. Our visits are all the more special because they are so far apart. Now I must focus on regaining strength so I can pick up where I left off. Thank the good Lord for a wonderful trip and for three darling grandchildren whom I treasure greatly.

Spending Time with the Girls

Today, after getting my fill of baby Elijah, I wanted to renew my acquaintance with my grand daughters. Kelly is getting so tall, and Katie is much more grown up. They are quite the young ladies, and have definite ideas about what we should do. Kelly read to me and I was delighted with her vocabulary and grasp of how to sound out words. Katie went into long explanations of how sometimes she does one thing and sometimes she does another. I barely had a chance to talk with their parents, but I rarely get to see these children. The disadvantages of a long distance relationship.

We go out to eat, and they step up to the counter like perfect young ladies who know exactly what they want and smile charmingly at the young man behind the counter. Better keep an eye on those two! They will be popular with the boys with their shy demeanor.

I ask them to trace their hands for me - a secret project as I am working on wool mittens for Christmas presents and want them to fit well. Time flies and before I can take it all in, I am kissing them good night and hugging Elijah tightly, trying to create a solid memory for when I am away and will not be able to smell his wonderful babyness or touch his velvet skin. Good bye, darlings. I know this trip was short. I felt a driving need to come even though I could not stay long. I will come again as soon as I am able. Meanwhile, write me. I will write you. I promise.