It has been a gut wrenching week, literally. My stomach has been tied up in knots all week and tonight I feel like I can finally breathe normally again. My friend's little boy, age 6, had his appendix out on Sunday night. He is in the same kindergarten class as my son George. Originally they thought he was going home from the hospital on Monday. Then due to complications he was not discharged until this morning. It got tense on Tuesday night when he needed blood transfusions due to internal bleeding and there was a possibility that he would need another surgery. Thankfully he stabilized and they did not have to do surgery. As much as I have been riding the emotional roller coaster, I am simply an observer and cannot imagine how intense the emotions have been for his parents. Our family is no stranger to surgery for young children, with my nephew who's already had several surgeries in his short life and Andy's surgery at nine months, but this still hits me right smack in the middle of my mommy heart.
Our school/parish community is also dealing with the loss of a mother of a kindergartner who passed away on Saturday after a three year battle with cancer. And there was the horrible story in the news just a week ago about the mother who killed her three children, ages 8, 6 and 3 and then killed herself. Well, she lived across the street from the family who's son just came home from the hospital. Several of my friends knew the mom or the dad from that family. Phew, talk about sad news. And here my biggest "worry" of the week was our summer calendar and what we are going to do for vacation.
These true life and death experiences are a sad and very stark reminder to keep it all in perspective. Yes, I'm still going to have my bad days and get crabby with the kids (and then feel bad about it later) but I'm also going to give them extra hugs and tell them how much I love them and how proud I am of them more than ever. I'm going to thank God for each and every day I have with these little people and my amazing husband. I also have an even deeper appreciation for the village of people who bond together and support one another through the tough times. It never ceases to amaze me the kindness and compassion of people and the power of prayer. No matter what the bad news, keep on praying. He hears us!
