A katydid. That's, apparently, what these bugs are called. I called Pooks out into the garage one afternoon to show her this amazing creature that God made for us to see. "I wonder what it is," I marveled.
"It's a katydid," my daughter responded without hesitation. "I read about it in a book."
That is one of the things I absolutely adore about my kids. They love science. They love to read every book they can get their hands on that teaches them about weather, nature, the earth, the stars ~ life beyond themselves. It's one thing that majorly frustrates me when my son's second grade teacher announces at curriculum night that they will be studying only 7 chapters from their very expensive, super thick science text books filled with lots of amazing facts to discover. But less than half the material will be covered in the book.
Life.
Whether it is our life or life beyond ourselves, it is a precious gift. I am reminded of that this week while I wait here in the hospital with Pookie to go back home to our real world. A world where we don't spend all day watching TV and dealing with blood draws and being woken over and over all night long and fearing what the future might bring. No. I want to go home where we can study the various critters that fly into our garage and make too many batches of pancakes with chocolate chips, strawberries, and whipped cream. I want to go home and live our lives.
Thankfully, it sounds like that's exactly what we get to do. Tomorrow.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your calls, your emails, your instant messages, your Facebook posts. Pookie and I have enjoyed reading every last one. {She thinks she's a pretty big deal ;)} The ballooning that was attempted in her heart did not quite work the way we'd hoped. That doesn't mean it won't work entirely, it just means for now we haven't made a lot of progress. And it means that Pookie still will not be allowed to run. Or ride her bike. Or participate in PE (to be honest, she's not too bummed about that last one.) And it does mean that she will be having open heart surgery. Number 7. (I told her I may have to rename the blog. And have another kid, if 6 wasn't going to be enough for her...) The question will be in how long we wait. For more answers, we go back to the cardiologist in 2 weeks.
In the meantime, we go home and covet the gift of life just a little bit more than we did last week. And we thank God for the outpouring of love we've felt this week.
We are truly blessed indeed.
~kj
