$20,000 Question

Dear Addie,

This week has been really hard. I’ve felt tired, sad, a little angry, and pretty down about where we are with your health journey. I know it’s not about me, but I can only imagine how tough it is for you. As your mom, I wish I could just kiss it and make it all better. I miss those days. It feels like everything has slowed down, and I just want to fix it all right away. I miss when you would laugh at the smallest things and always say yes to ice cream. Lately, it’s mostly “no” or “no fank you” to almost everything, and you’d rather sleep than do anything else. I’m still really hopeful that starting school next week will help you get back into a familiar routine and that your healing will speed up - fingers crossed.

Now, having said all that, leave it to you to make me laugh and remember that patience is key to all of this.

Allow me to explain.

This week after a long afternoon nap, you came downstairs and started rummaging through the kitchen. I was excited that you were hungry. Immediately, I started peppering you with questions. “Are you hungry? Do you want an apple? Crackers? Nuggets? Yogurt?” You never even looked up at me. You were a girl on a mission, looking for something very specific. Just then, you opened a drawer, pulled out the can opener and set it on the counter. Then you quickly skirted off to the pantry. Yep, I was intrigued. I started quickly thinking what it was that you wanted to eat that needed a can opener. Before I could even form a guess, you were handing me the can opener and a can of corn.

Corn. You wanted a bowl of corn. In a million years, I never would have thought this was what you’d be going for. Cookies, yes. Maybe even cereal. But a can of corn? No. If we were on Family Feud and the question was what Addie would be looking for in the kitchen to eat, I would have totally lost the $20,000 because I never would have guessed corn as the number one answer, but I digress. I laughed and said, “You want corn?” You said, “Corn, yeah,” as you pulled a fork from the drawer, because apparently, you also enjoy a challenge while eating as well.

Addie, this week I was feeling a bit defeated, and leave it to you to bring a smile to my face with a gentle reminder that our journey has always been predictably unpredictable, and with that comes the need for great patience.

Happy to see you eating. Enjoy your corn, baby girl.

Love,

Mom