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Children's Hospital in Seattle

I woke up early this morning. Early for me. To say I'm not a morning person would be an understatement of epic proportions. It's akin to saying that Kyle Huff had issues. Every one just wishes they knew what they were and if he could have been stopped.

Today I get to drive to Seattle and spend some time at Children's Hospital. This was my home away from home for many years. I did actually live there, if you could call what I did there 'living'. When I think back to how often I spent the night there, either on a pull out chair bed by the side of a crib, or in the sleeping quarters of the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) I marvel that I was able to keep my sanity. I owe a lot of my stability to my faith and to the gentle, caring nature of those who work at Children's.

After we stopped sleeping there for weeks on end, we were there at least once a week with Ashley for years. Her Neurological team and her physical and occupational teams became family to us. We laughed together, we cried together and we fought together to ensure that Ashley would not just be able to walk one day, but that she would be able to run. When my mother died, they came to my house with food and cards. They brought me a rose bush to plant in my yard in remembrance of my mother.

Today we will be seeing some of them again, and even the ones we don't have appointments with will be there to have lunch with us. The bond that was woven between these wonderful people and I through love for my children is an enduring one. I've been blessed to have these people in my life and I am grateful for their compassion, their caring, and their friendship.

Comments

  1. i'm so glad our forefathers came to this country to establish our nation so that years later, you can go to an all night party, and then shoot people there the next morning. no, i mean, i'm glad you have the support system you have at the hospital. yes, that's what i mean to say.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, ain't that grand? Since happened in my stomping grounds so to speak, it's been news here every day since it happened. Still no discernable motive for what that lunatic did. As a parent, one of the things that bothered me greatly was that there were two young girls there. Fourteen years old? Out all night? I saw the parents on tv and I felt for their loss but some part of me still wonders why they would let such young girls stay out all night like that.... Is it just me?

    ReplyDelete
  3. no, it is not just you. i see it all the time. i have sometimes grabbed a three year old from running right into traffic. and held the three year old by the hand while waiting for someone to emerge from the sidewalk crowd to claim him. eventually, and i do mean, eventually, a mother will appear, and without the least bit of alarm that a total stranger is holding onto her child, take the child's arm and lead him away. not even urgently. just..ho...hum....
    and i was in denver when columbine happened. it was a long while before the news stopped playing it over and over again. it's gonna be awhile before your news stations stop it. maybe when angelina has brad's baby, they will stop talking about the shooting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ack! Brangelina! You've written down that which shall not be named!

    ReplyDelete

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