December 2010

Tra La La La La La La

I was helping my grandmother up the stairs last night, and by helping I mean she was grabbing the handrail while I had her butt cheeks in both hands, shoving her against gravity until we both reached the top breathless; she from the exertion of hoisting herself up, I from having to inhale a couple of [...]

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I Love You Anyways, Mom.

“What should I get your mom for Christmas?” With only hours left before our big family dinner, my father made good on his annual, frantic, last-minute call; I pictured him standing in the middle of our local mall, his handsome face contorted into his trademark scowl while he waited for my answer. “Um, she mentioned she [...]

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More, Please

What do you do when your son, whose been “failing to thrive” since spring and closer to a feeding tube than ever before sits down at your traditional, holy, Christmas Eve feast, grabs a ginormous spoon, and begins to shove pierogis down his throat faster than the speed of light? Duh. You spend an entire [...]

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A Boy, A Violin, And Frosty the Snowman

So many people came by to visit Andrew while he was in the hospital; the outpouring of love and support was nothing short of amazing. Our village truly rocks. But one visitor stood out among the rest, and I think you’ll agree that it’s not hard to see why. He stopped by and brought his [...]

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White. Fair. Blessed.

I have seen her for days nowrolling down the corridorson an unsteady office chaira flash of dirty blonde hairwhisking by our window every three minutes She is not tied down by an IVor wearing standard issue jammies (the kind that make you feel exposed and vulnerable)her tween jeans tight around her anklesa soft mask protecting her [...]

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oh andrew.

oh andrew.It has been a steady declinegaining momentum in the last few monthsand two weeks ago, you could no longer finish out your school daymommy driving to pick you up, before lunchcarrying you in my arms past laughing childrenbiting my tongue all the way to the carbecause some of the things that want to escape [...]

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I Want My Brain Cells Back

It’s been a little over a year since I decided to stop watching the news. Something about waking up to a steaming cup of coffee and up to date information on local slayings, drug busts, and deadly swine/bird/armadillo flu outbreaks unnerved me and made it hard for me to focus on my job as a [...]

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Brush Front

We’ve had a heck of a time getting Andrew to brush his teeth lately. And given the fact that his two front teeth have a combined surface area equivalent to a regulation football field, most things within a three mile radius find their way onto his chompers and we’re forced to brush. Often. A few [...]

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I’m All for Recycling, But…………

The other day I found myself at my local health store, aka the “Everything Here is Disgustingly Overpriced But You’re Desperate Enough To Pay It So We’re Gonna Charge It” store, looking for some specific supplements for Andrew. A nice young man wearing Birkenstocks and reeking of cologne that had a striking resemblance to my [...]

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