A Lifetime of Love

I guess the day my dad had to call 9-1-1 he was napping on the couch since it was raining outside. Erin came in and woke him up and said she thought he had better call for help. Well, he jumped off the couch, ran into the kitchen, and poured a glass of orange juice. He brought it back into the living room where Erin was sitting and told her to drink it, and that he wasn’t going to call until she did. She told him she didn’t really feel like drinking orange juice, but he insisted, so she did. When she was finished, he asked her if she was feeling any better, and when she wasn’t, he then called. She was a little confused as to why he did that, so I explained that my uncle (my dad’s twin) is a diabetic and has been since he was a child. My dad’s brain is programmed to give him orange juice to help bring his blood sugar back up, and it was probably just his first reaction, especially since he was asleep. His mind wasn’t really processing everything she was saying, and he just knows to give...

Erin was released from the ER last night. She was told she over-exerted herself yesterday which made her heart rate drop too low. I don't know exactly what tests the doctors did, but the last I spoke to my mom, Erin was having a chest x-ray taken. I'm not sure why; I think to check and see if her lungs were collapsing again. I spoke to Erin this morning and she sounded fairly good. Of course her voice was weak, but Paul was there and my mom was home from work today for the holiday. She said her biggest challenge was wanting to care for Kaylee and not being able to, especially when it came to nursing. She is not used to having to depend on others for so much help, especially since Paul has been gone since March. On the other hand, Erin told me a funny story that happened to my dad today, so at least her spirits were up and she was able to laugh (if you know my dad, you know how "accident" prone he is). As far as I know, Paul has to report back to NC this upcoming Thurs...

My sis was released from the hospital Tuesday evening (with no diagnosis and instructions to follow up with the dermatologist and rheumatologist next week). She is staying at my mom’s house where there is more space and less people so she can rest and recuperate. I spoke to her yesterday morning and the plan for the day was for Paul to take Kaylee to his parent’s apartment (30 minutes away) for the day so Erin could nap without worrying how Paul is doing with Kaylee. Paul and Kaylee left around noon, and my mom came home from work at 3pm so she was only “alone” for 3 hours (she was never alone because my dad and brother were there working on the deck outside). I called again this morning to check on her and she still sounded weak but the plan for today was the same as yesterday, with the exception of my brother being gone at Boy Scout camp until Sunday, and my dad stuck inside because it was raining (can’t build a deck in the rain!). That was about 9:30am. At 3:45pm my mom phoned to te...

Today is my 9 year anniversary. Happy Anniversary, TJ ! I received the sweetest card and hand-written note from him. Here is a little excerpt from the note: You have given me 3 1/2 children and I am truly thankful. God placed us in California on that day when we met for a reason, He had a plan for us and we are still learning what that plan is. I thank God for you and my children and how fortunate I really am. Are those not the most heartfelt words you have ever read? TJ is not the mushy type, so for him to write this to me, it really means a lot. We did not exchange gifts because we are planning to make a major purchase sometime in the near future, and that will be our gift to each other (and our kids). However, I would still like to go out for dinner (thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and recommendations- I appreciate it!) and that's always a nice break. So often we hire a sitter to come but it'...

My anniversary is on Thursday. 9 years of marriage. I can’t believe it. I honestly can’t. No one in my family has been married this long, and it really isn’t that long. It still seems like just yesterday we “tied the knot” to each other, although I will be the first to admit that as time passes, the easier marriage becomes. I guess it’s because we mature spiritually and, in turn, our marriage matures. I can remember some of our earlier years, and they sure weren’t pretty. In fact, they were pretty ugly. On both of our parts, not just mine. I’m glad, though, that we’ve stuck together, committed to making our marriage work NO MATTER WHAT! We both come from divorced homes for various reasons and neither wants that for our kids. At the same time, we don’t want to stay together for our kids. No, we have a higher authority Who calls us to remain committed to each other, our children, and Him. I am thankful that we both agree to this calling because I think that is where so many families stru...

Erin had a rough night last night. Her heart rate dropped really low so the nurse put a heart monitor on her. It still was not back up to normal this morning so a cardiologist has been called in to examine her. Because of the heart issues, her doctor has ordered her to remain on the IV until they can figure out what's causing her heart rate to keep dropping. So, it doesn't look like she'll be leaving tomorrow or Wednesday after all, which is both good and bad. Good because we still don't know what's wrong with her and bad because she was looking forward to getting back to normal. This heart issue has me worried. I talked to Erin last night on the phone and her spirits were up and other than her weak voice, she sounded like herself. This morning when I called she sounded worn out and a little depressed. I think being cooped up in the hospital is beginning to take its toll on her, especially since she didn't get to see Kaylee yesterday and wasn't sure what tes...

Erin is doing okay. She went off the intravenous steroid and started an oral steroid yesterday for her lupus (although she hasn’t officially received a diagnosis, they are treating it as such). So far she can’t really tell a difference but it’s probably because the stronger intravenous steroid is still in her blood system. She also began physical and occupational therapy on Friday. She has lost so much weight (about 15 pounds) from a combination of not eating or exercising her major muscle groups and just laying in bed. My mom walks with her when she comes to visit to try to strengthen her muscles and lungs, but Erin is so weak that she has to stop to rest often. She can only make it a distance of about 7 feet before she has to stop, and only gets about 30 feet before she has to turn around and go back to her bed. Paul, her husband, flew in from Iraq today so he came to see her for about 3 hours. She was excited to see him and he’ll be able to stay for 2 weeks. Erin got the okay to see...