Beyond Bringing Up Boys

We arrived safely in the Quad Cities and it became exceedingly difficult to pull away. For the first summer in David's career, he had the flexibility in his schedule to allow us to stay and though there were some very emotional times, as we all began to learn of Don's prognosis, we had some wonderful days too. One of those times was July 4th. David's sister and her family came from Des Moines and stayed close to a week or more. Our children are relatively close in age and get along well --and considering each of us has 1 spitfire (who will remain unnamed :-) --that's amazing! We tried to do as many fun things as we could when David's dad felt well: a trip to Galena, IL, ate at Famous Dave's Barbeque, a day at Niabi Zoo. But the boys had the most fun on a boat in the Mississippi River. Dan Dodd (a member from the Bible Missonary Church where David's parents attend) invited David and the boys out on his boat. Oh excited they were! Poor Dan! A few things th

Okay, where were we? Heading home, I guess...to David's parents, anyway. Grandpa had one more destination up his sleeve though--The Great Platte River Road Archway. It was a great finale to our trip. The Archway is an interactive adventure that pays tribute to the pioneers who passed through Nebraska on their way West. Wearing headsets, we listened in on "conversations" and watched the exhilaration and heartbreak of the journey. It was really neat. And I think seeing it at the end of our trip, it all made more sense to the boys because they had seen some of the places that the exhibits displayed. Even Seth had his favorite parts of the arch: a window at the top of the arch where you could watch the cars speeding by on I-80 and the escalator! (Grandma pointing out something to Samuel on a map--Samuel LOVES maps!) (just 2 of the many exhibits) We arrived safely in the Quad Cities on Thursday, July 26. We planned to leave the next day after Don's bone marrow biopsy.

Samuel woke up early this morning...and started the countdown to the minute of his birth...8 years ago. Then he proclaimed, "And NOW I am eight!"

I'll get back to our trip details, for those of you who have been so patient, but for tonight I'd like to digress. As I mentioned in a previous post, I accompanied David's dad (along with his mom) to the hospital in Scottsbluff, NE for a blood transfusion. For any of you who may not know, this procedure takes hours. In fact, that day I think we were at the hosptial about 12 hours. When we got back to the Quad Cities, we spent many more hours together in the hospital. It was such an honor to be there and serve them by offering what limited medical knowledge I have and/or just sitting nearby so Glenda could attend to other needs. Samuel's 8th birthday is tomorrow and I can't help but remember how David's dad sat by my bed for hours after the birth of my boys. I don't recall that he said much. I would awaken to see him with his new grandson in his arms or just sitting quietly nearby. So when he apologized that his health needs were taking "my" t