i’m so sick of the insides of hospitals. if i never see another one again, i’d be fine with that. no matter how skilled or kind the people are, the aesthetic is very much lacking.
do not love liminal spaces. adding that to my next list.
although the first night mike was in the icu, the night of his heart surgery, it was strangely comforting.
it was just me, the nurse, and mike. he was unconscious, still breathing on a tube, which is normal after a surgery like his. the lighting was low, it was nighttime, and the boops and the beeps were soft -it felt surreal. there was something else in that room on that night. it felt otherworldly.
but other than that. i hate hospitals. 🤣
mike is doing well. we’ve been taking recovery one hour at a time. this healing is important work—his visiting nurse came by yesterday (she will come once a week) and said this week’s priorities are diet, medications, and steps (walking for 2 minutes every 2 hours).
i’m made for these days—the helping, the doing, the calm. watching a favorite show on a random afternoon while caring for someone i love. holding the ordinary is my favorite place to be.
side note—a few people mentioned that they got emails or saw in their wordpress readers that old posts of mine are showing up. that’s not a mistake. i’ve been slowly republishing old posts on the blog. years ago, i got self-conscious and unpublished some of them. you can read more about that here.
i decided to put old posts that mean something back on the blog. i’ll be doing more of that going forward. i marked them so that if you follow me, you shouldn’t get notified, though i can’t control whether they show up in the wordpress reader. just scroll past if you see an old post—or take a read.
but i’m not going any crazier than usual, and neither are you.
i found this picture going through old posts last week. that little girl is having such a big week—finals and graduation, all to earn her wings as a flight attendant. i keep thinking about how she was about this age when mike came home with a tiny united plane from one of his trips.
she played with that plane endlessly, and she always said it’s what made her fall in love with aviation. that little girl and that little plane set her on this whole journey, and now here she is, taking flight for real.💜
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A Grace Full Life 
It’s hard to make a hospital inviting. Even the nicest decor can’t disguise the fact that most people are there because something is wrong.
I’m glad Mike is doing well on the road to recovery though. When I was about your daughter’s age, my parents bought me a little riding airplane with wheels…but alas, aviation did not “stick” with me. Glad she’s following her dreams though!
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So glad Mike is on the mend! You have had way too much going on. Tell him Hello from Kim and me!
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So glad you’re past the worst part. It’s all rest and healing now, and though that will take time… and patience… you’ll get there. My husband got a little depressed so be ready for a bit of that and do everything you can to reassure him and keep his spirits up. Lack of appetite is common too, I had a hard time tempting my guy with anything right after he came home but healthy eating is important.
It’s a long road but my husband felt so much better afterwards and got right back to doing what he loved.
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Hospitals are terrible. I hope you don’t have to see inside another one for a long time!
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It’s strange how hospitals all look the same. You could be with Mike at my local hospital.
I’m glad the surgery went well, and Mike is on the mend. My father had a similar surgery: the chest pillow (heart hugger) was super-helpful when he was at home. He’s one to push recovery.
Congratulations on graduation as well: it’s such a lovely and bittersweet time.
You’ve a lot going on all. Don’t forget to care for the caretaker.
I enjoyed the old posts. Thanks for re-upping them.
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Glad to hear Mike is doing well! We’ll continue to keep him and you all in our thoughts and prayers as he continues his recovery.
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Thank you for the update! I’m glad Mike is healing and I hope you are taking it easy yourself. I have not seen any of your old posts appear in my blog feeder, but I will certainly read them if they do. What a fun photo to find of the three of you. It’s so cool when kids take a strong liking to something and then end up following their dream. I feel as though all three of my kids have done that somewhat. My oldest became a nurse (she was obsessed with medical things since age 18 months), Middle Child loved music and has been playing the piano for over 20 years, and my son LOVED travel and has been all over the world. It certainly brings our hearts joy, doesn’t it?? XO
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Great news that the surgery is over and went well. Man, I’m so with you on hospitals. Don’t forget to be very kind to yourself through all of this.
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