Love

It has been a very busy time here for our family. Since the tradeshow at the end of January, we have been inundated with visitors here at our home to see my dad and mom and us. Many of you have asked me how my dad is doing since my last post. I struggle for the words to say and how to say them. Things are well to be expected. My dad is tired. There are days he will not even be able to wake up to eat or drink. But then there are days he does open his eyes and is able to eat and just visit with us. He doesn't say anything now but when he is with us, he knows what is going on. 

Related to that, my dad has always been in charge of the car duties in our family. From changing the tires, to doing the oil changes, he has been the one to handle it... til he got sick. We have been taking care of the car for my dad and we noticed that one of the tires has been very low. We couldn't find in the glove box the papers to show us when and where the tires were put on and we asked my mom. My mom insisted it was Walmart. My parents are the biggest Walmart fans in the world. 

So during lunch one day last week when I was feeding my dad, I decided to ask him. As soon I  said "Dad I have a question about your car", I could see my dad's eyes perk up, he even raised his eyebrows as if to say "yes?" So I proceeded to ask him if he had gotten the car tires changed at Walmart. He did not nod yes like he usually does. I then asked him "were these the original tires from the dealership" and he finally did nod yes. The next day I was driving my mom somewhere and asked her to look at the paperwork in the glove box and low and behold, the documents showed that the tires were indeed the original ones. I smiled because my dad even now is meticulous about documentation and things like that when it comes to his car.

And while on most days, I can handle most things thrown my way, there are a couple of times when it gets hard for me and for my family. My dad was one of the happiest and jolliest men ever and to see him the way he is now so so so hard. He has to be fed now by my mom or one of us. He cannot eat solid foods. And just so so many other things. 

It has been hard on my husband and my kids and my sister and her family too but we are dealing with it the best way we know how with the comfort that we know our lives here on earth are just a short journey to what we believe is waiting for us after that. 

I did see my dad's eye sparkle yesterday. I was telling him about Noah's Science Fair Project. This is something Noah spent at least 6 hours on the last month working on for school. And with all of Noah's hard work, he won first place in all of Kindergarten for his project:

Noah did a project on mixing of different liquids with Olive Oil. He kept notes in a Science Journal. I taught him to use a paper trimmer (with supervision). He took most of the photos and wrote out his project steps, etc. We helped him with the titles, formatting the photos, laying out the project on the board and getting the project done in small steps. 

My dad (who is an Electrical Engineer) would have loved to have been there to see Noah win this.  But he saw the next best thing, a photo and I saw my dad's eyes sparkle. I know he is proud of Noah.

And with that, we spend our time when we can with my mom and dad and try not to hold our breath and wait.

 

Comments

[kimber mcgray]

Thanks for sharing with us Caroline. You and your dad have been in my thoughts a LOT lately. My step-dad just got some more bad news last week and it's been hard.
Hugs my friend.

[Shelley Haganman]

Oh Caroline thank you for sharing this. I have had you all in my prayers and will continue to do so. I can't imagine how hard this is. Your family is so fortunate to have one another.

[Megan Hoeppner]

What a beautiful post, Caroline. I love that you're able to focus on the happy moments during this time. We tried our best to do that when my grandmother was sick, and it helped SO much. It made her life and ours better. I'm happy to see the same can be said for you. Your dad sounds like a wonderful person, and I know without a doubt that he's SO proud of you. You make his life better, and he's lucky to have a daughter like you to make even these harder challenges a bit easier. My heart is with you and your family right now!

[Ania]

Don't have much to say, only...it does feel nice to hear about your little stories from your everyday even in this situation. And. I wish there was a tradition for science fairs here in Norway too! Looks like a great way to encourage the natural curiousity kids inhabit.

[Cim Allen]

You and your family have been in thoughts and prayers and will continue to be. Congrats to Noah, awesome job !!!!

[laura plunk davis]

thank you so much for the update , I know how hard this must be for you...
I think of you often and am keeping you in my prayers.

Laura

[emily pitts]

you are awesome. your rutter runs very deep. congrats to noah.

[sac longchamp pas cher]

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