Not the Start to Summer I Expected

There's a book called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I have begun to feel that you should be subbing my name for Alexander's, and "summer" for "day."

The very first full day of summer vacation, Lisa had cellulitis, something that is not to be trifled with and can make you very, very sick. (This was her third go-round with it.)

The following day, Craig's mother went into the hospital with difficulty breathing. The cancerous tumors in her lungs were discovered to have grown. She was hospitalized for several days and then went into hospice care.

That same day, I saw a neurosurgeon about my back issues. I am having surgery in July to fix a collapsed disc, remove arthritic growths, and fuse two vertebrae.

With Phyllis going into hospice, this meant that Cole and Jessica and their families, who were not planning on visiting this summer due to their heavy schedules, were able to make quick visits to us since this all cracked open a few days before Memorial Day weekend. Kyle surprised us by driving up from Florida (his family is in Utah while Braden undergoes milk allergy treatment), and then with Lisa and Curt already in town, that meant that we had five of our six kids and their families here.

An unexpected blessing and bright spot as we ended that very hectic first week of summer.

The second week of summer the stomach flu set in. Emily, Curt, Jessica, Craig, and I all got this awful flu that hit fast and hard. I was up all night, in and out of the bathroom, when it was my turn. Nasty stuff!!

Then, Lisa, fully recovered from her cellulitis, got another respiratory infection. She has been in treatment for a chronic cough for nearly two years; this is yet another bout in a long line of lung issues.

A couple quiet days to end the second week of summer, and then the third week did not get off to a good start when my mother was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. She'd lost 14 pounds since May 24, was not eating, depressed, and having difficulty breathing. She was admitted last night, and may be undergoing a bronchoscopy later today. This is risky; she had one a year ago and nearly did not come out from the anesthesia.

This summer has been rough for me; I was counting on it as an opportunity to rest and recharge from a tiring year of teaching. But having said that, I am grateful to live close to our moms so that when these things happen, we can be there with them and for them.

And when I think about it, the timing of Phyll's hospitalization meant that, not only did we get to see our kids, they had an opportunity to see their grandmothers one more time, perhaps even for the last time.

No doubt there are other silver linings in my "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer," that will come to light as time presses on. In the meantime, I'll keep hanging on, even if it is by my fingernails!