A Little Bit of Everything

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ms. Izzy mastered the art of tearing of paper and the removal of bows. As expected her favorite things were boxes!! She has also enjoyed climbing in and out of the wagon that Santa brought her (it has a door on it -- she's not going over the side... yet!). We missed Ms. Priss, but we are ever so thankful for Christmas and the birth of Baby Jesus. His birth, death, and resurrection are the reasons we KNOW we'll see her again.

We've all been battling colds and Ms. Izzy's finally got the best of her and landed her at the doctor's office yesterday. She's battling throat and sinus infections w/ rather impressive fevers. It's down to low grade this morning, so that is good. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon and she'll be back to her regular spunky self. It's so strange to have her be content to just sit in my lap!! It's still so strange to "be allowed" to stay home w/ a fever. We were so used to fevers landing us in the hospital that "normal" can still feel odd. But... "normal" is ooohhhh so good!

We're rapidly approaching the anniversary of Catie's Heaven Day. Yesterday was 1 year since she went inpatient for the last time and it's now been more than a year since she slept in our house. Christmas night was her last night at home. There's definitely a lot of remembering this time last year going on and that will get harder in the next couple of weeks. It's hard remembering how sick she was and I just hope and pray she doesn't remember any of the bad of these weeks... just the love that surrounded her each and every day. It's strange to say there are things I wish I could forget, b/c you would think I wouldn't want to lose any memories of Catie. The only ones I'd be willing (and glad) to give up are some where she was so very, very sick those last few weeks. But... I know that seeing her so sick enabled us to let her go, so we will try to remember that. I watched a video the other day. She was "getting" her daddy in a lot of the recording and she was laughing SO hard!!!!! Oh how sweet to hear that laugh... I do miss it. It reminded me that there were so many GOOD times and fun times and that in spite of everything she went through, she DID live well.

I'm including a poem that was read at Scottish Rite's memorial service. It touched me and really is so true.

The Cord
By Terri Apostolakos

We are connected, my child and I,
By an invisible cord, not seen by the eye.

It's not like the cord that connects us 'til birth. This
cord can't be seen by any on Earth.

This cord does its work right from the start.
It binds us together attached to my heart.

I know that it's there, though no one can see, the
invisible cord from my child to me.

The strength of this cord is hard to describe. It
can't be destroyed, it can't be denied.

It's stronger than any cord one could create.
It withstands the test, can hold any weight.

And though you're not here, not standing by me,
The cord is still there but no one can see.

It pulls at my heart. I am bruised. I am sore,
But this cord is my lifeline like never before!

I am thankful that God connects us this way.
A parent and child. Death can't take it away.