They are not one-dimensional, these boys. Braedan is not all blue to Austin’s all red. They each have varied, and sometimes contradictory, personalities. Braedan, the “sensitive” one, is not at all shy. No, ask any teacher he’s had over the years, this boy is not quiet and not shy. He’ll talk your ear off, in […]
We are ever-so-slowly making our way through the boxes and putting together one room at a time (or in my case, putting together a tiny corner of one room and then one tiny corner of another, as every time I wander away looking for a screwdriver or curtain rod, I end up getting sucked into […]
Long day. Ugh, another long day. Since I don’t have the energy for drama and good story-telling right now, let me cut to the chase and tell you that he has a PICC line after a serious and sustained effort at replacing the Mediport. He was in surgery for four hours, not quite the “quickie” […]
Back to the hospital today, for the next round of chemo. My little guy was zipping about the halls on his tricycle all afternoon, a sight completely incongruous with his balding head and IV line. But typical Austin, nonetheless. This week includes the third of his three new drugs, one we’ve never had before that’s […]
I was going to write this post last night after the kids went to bed but fell asleep with Braedan at 9:30 and didn’t get up again (except to take out my contacts and move to my own bed) until 9 this morning. Which is all sort of fitting since the moral of this story […]
We’ve had two very regular, average, normal days in a row. Radiation has gone smoothly (audible sigh) and Austin has even put in two appearances at school. Yesterday, he was all excited about it at the hospital, naming his classmates for the curious doctor and eagerly guessing what they’d do for an art project. Then, […]
For some unknown reason, I was unable to get holiday cards into the mail this year, so here it is, our virtual greeting to all of you. 2009: what a year. It started with the Dietrich family vacation to Jamaica, where the boys enjoyed swimming in the ocean, swimming in the pool, and naked soccer […]
Boy, I thought we had a lot of toys last week…. These kids have made out like bandits. And they are thoroughly enjoying it. A little proof for you: The above stash came from the family of a cancer survivor who provides presents to those kids who are in-patient at Christmas. We obviously weren’t but […]
Finally, some answers to the question I’ve heard literally hundreds of times over the past few days: What can I do to help? First, the practical stuff: My friend Julie will create a plan for meal deliveries so watch for that in your inbox. These need not be big or fancy meals; just enough for […]
We had Braedan’s first official school conference yesterday and, among other glowing compliments, his teacher said he is one of the happiest children she has ever known. “Always happy and always positive,” were her words. Through my years as a classroom teacher, I have glimpsed the inner lives of many different types of children, each […]