Today was a busy day with moments of sadness as the household prepares for Peter’s departure.
Rachael and I made one of those scary trips to Wal-mart, the kind where you feel like you should be on Sam Walton’s personal Christmas card list. Getting dad ready to be on his own was an adventure for us. It was a cart full of pots and pans, plates and cups, sheets and blankets, every odd and end that he’s going to need to be MR BACHELOR for 6 months. We are now the proud owner of two irons, clearance shelf cookware (I’ll be curious to see how long it takes to actually come out of the box) and so much random miscellaneous stuff that I know we’ll have to have a garage sale as soon as we move.
Because Peyton’s birthday is on Wednesday, we chose to celebrate her big day this evening. We invited Pete’s mom and our friends, the Hawkins family, to join us for what has become a regular staple of our steroid-ridden lives….black olives and breadsticks from Olive Garden. We had a wonderful meal, a good time with our buddies, Peyton enjoyed each and every present…this year she was old enough to care about what was IN the bags, not just the fact that she got them…and it was bittersweet because I know Peter’s going to wake up Wednesday wanting to hug his baby girl and wish her happy birthday and he’s going to be left with a phone call.
This part of the process really stinks. I’m going to be missing Pete, the kids are going to be missing Pete, Pete’s going to be missing us, and I’m still stuck with a dog that I’ve promised to be nice to.
Peyton’s taken her last dose of steroids for this round, she’s handled it really well. It is never a predictable thing, some months she’s crazed and craving, some months it blows by with hardly a glitch. She’s been very sweet this round, her eating has been just a little heartier than normal. It’s as if she knows that I’m emotional from all the news surrounding our friends and Pete’s move and she decided “It’s mom’s month to be a little nuts.” Nuts=crazy, just in case you were concerned.
I want to thank our friends Jeff and Amy Hogg for their awesome generosity. Pete and Jeff have been friends since grade school and they’ve continued a lasting relationship through the years. The Hogg family live near the University of Michigan and they charge for parking in their lawn for the football games. They chose a recent game and let people know that they were donating the money to Peyton. They don’t have a huge yard by any means, but through this one day, they were able to bless us with a check for 0 for Peyton’s fund!!! That just rocks and it reminds us of the tremendous support we have from all over. Thank you so much, Jeff and Amy, what you did means a lot more than the check itself.
Let’s keep the prayers going for Mathew Gliddon as he struggled through day 2 of his new treatment and for Justin Jones who has relapsed from a brain tumor that has moved to his spine. These are just two of the many who need your faithful prayer, and we appreciate every moment spent with God on their behalf.
f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa
