I'm sitting at the Ronald McDonald House thinking about Aiden and how he is doing during his second sleep study. Ricky and I decided to split shifts - he is staying with him at the hospital tonight while I (try) to get some sleep, and I will stay tomorrow following his surgery while Ricky heads back here to rest.
I'm not supposed to have food in my room, but I couldn't resist sneaking in the wonderful box of cookies sent by our friends April and Tate to munch on as comfort food. Man are these things delicious. Although I'm trying to lose a few lb's, I think there is some kind of unwritten diet rule that says it's okay to eat bad while out of town when your child is about to have surgery. (Alas, I don't think it says it's okay to eat ALL of the cookies in the box...hmmm, better put that one back...) A HUGE thank you to The Gormans for sending these our way.
Having Aiden has brought so much joy into our lives that we never imagined possible. During those first few days when we were dealing with the emotions of learning about Aiden's condition, we were in a very dark place. Nothing that anyone said to us could make us feel okay. We worried about what our family's future had in store. We worried that the way we imagined our lives turning out was never going to be our reality. After a few weeks though, something changed. And I have to believe that the love and support of not only our friends and family, but also complete strangers, is what has helped us pull through.
I've already mentioned the Gorman's. We had never before met in person, we'd just sent emails back and forth and read eachothers blogs - but it's amazing how comfortable it was meeting them for dinner. It's like we had known each other for ages. I feel very lucky to have been connected with them. It will make our trips here a lot easier knowing that we have a support system who has undergone some of the very same things with their child as we are going through with Aiden. Their adorable son John is Ethan's age and we're hoping to bring him along next time so they can meet. They also have a little girl, Rory Cate, who is so beautiful it briefly made me get the baby bug and had me thinking about trying for baby number 3 just to try for the girl I so want to have (Don't worry - I said briefly - it will be a few years...trust me we've got enough on our plate!)
And then there is Glenn Dixon, the direct sales guy who works for Samtec and lives here in the Dallas area. He and his colleagues at a local rep firm arranged and paid for a rental car for us to use. The rep company, Kruvand, hand delivered a care basket to the Ronald McDonald House with fruit, a veggie tray, drinks, snacks, crossword puzzles, magazines, you name it. The kicker...we've never even met these people! Out of the kindness of their hearts, upon hearing about Aiden from Glenn, they so generously donated their time and money to put this basket together for us.
Finally, all of our family members who sent us their kind thoughts, prayers, and things to help us relax (no, not drugs!) and keep our minds off the tough stuff, have also played such an important role in helping us stay positive and strong. We simply cannot thank them enough for their support.
We feel truly blessed to have such amazing people in our lives - family, friends and even complete strangers. A million thank-yous go out to you from The Skees family!
And what the heck, I might as well go ahead and eat that last cookie. I mean, I'm gonna eat it for breakfast tomorrow if I don't eat it now - so what's the difference - right?
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