Stinky on her 5th birthday, about 4 1/2 months before she got sick.Okay, tonight has been crazy. Basically, I got home from work, talked to Coadster, went to her choir concert and then came home and helped Stinky with her homework and studying for her test. Stinky's test tomorrow is for health class and is on the male and female reproductive systems and other sex education kind of stuff. I used to work in an ob/gyn clinic, so I could really help her. For right now, she has to show me all her completed homework and study for every quiz and test with me. She was a little resentful at first, but once we started going over everything, she seemed to really like showing me what she knew.
And just so you don't think that the only way to get attention in my house is to fuck shit up, I will be rewarding Coadster with a lunch date in the next week. She has been great about just doing things like the laundry and taking in the garbage can from the curb without ever being asked, that I wanted to show her how much I appreciated it. I think we all like to be recognized for doing our part when we don't really have to.
Now, February 12th is the tenth anniversary of Stinky having meningitis. She was five when she got it and lost ten lbs in only a couple of days. When you only weigh a little over 40 lbs to begin with, that's a huge drop. She had a bacterial meningitis that originated from strep and then the bacteria moved to her spinal chord fluid. We were lucky, because she had only had antibiotics once berfore in her life, so her body responded really well to the three different kinds they gave her, just in case.
I worked at the hospital at the time, so there would be times where I worked all day, stayed all night with Stinky and worked the whole next day, spending roughly 35 straight hours at that icky place. I remember hanging out at the hospital by myself on Valentine's Day watching the movie Smoke Signals, while Stinky was unconscious in the bed next to me. No matter what I've done on any Valentine's Day since, it has seemed wonderful compared to that.
So, now ten years later, I feel so very lucky for all of the gray hair she's given me and the ones she'll be causing through the rest of her teen years.
6 comments:
It's all a matter of perspective...isn't it.
Cutest picture ever.
Wow, yeah, no more of those types of Valentines. I can't imagine how unfathomably relieved you must've felt once she recovered!
This may seem strange, but I remember being very interested in those sex education classes. We started them in grade school - I think grade four or five. Course most of us giggled through most of it, but it was still interesting.
Oh my goodness, what an awful experience! And it certainly does put all other Valentine's disasters or misfires in perspective.
Nor,
It always is. That's why I'm almost glad that so many bad things happened to me when I was young. It's hard to be depressed now, in comparison.
DJ,
Thanks. She was so girly when she was younger. She taught me so much.
Tara,
Yes, I was. Besides death, the two things you have to look for after meningitis is hearing loss and brain damage. Stinky seemed to have escaped all of those bad things.
LauraB.,
For sure. I hope to spend at least some of Valentine's Day this year with Stinky on a little mom and daughter date. We may get lunch and go to a movie. I can't wait.
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