Gratitude for Grandchildren and Old Friends

I have much to be grateful for. The poison ivy is finally gone after three weeks and a steroid shot. I felt some camaraderie with my grandson, who also had to take prednisone, although for a much more serious reason, lymphoma. He just spent a week in the hospital with a very high fever for no explainable reason. All the bad things were ruled out and it was determined to be a virus that took a while to get out of his body due to a compromised immune system. The great news (and my number one gratitude) is that he's home from the hospital and has completed the nastiest of the chemo medicines and will now be entering maintenance mode. He's not out of the woods yet, but everyone is very hopeful.

On Friday, John & I drove from our new home in Roseville (taking a welcome break from the newsletter we're working on) to watch his younger brother so their dad could go back to work. We spent the first half hour with this active and very bright three-year-old sitting on my lap, emptying out my purse and finding a great deal of change, which we put into an envelope, as well as my frog key ring, tiny Buddha statue, lip gloss (which he applied to both my lips and his), earrings (which he put in my ears after taking off the ones I came with), and several pens, with which we wrote his name and Grandma. Some time was spent with my cell phone, I got quite a nice manicure with my emery board and we finished off with the small measuring tape I bring along on organizing jobs.

After that we listened to Star Wars music and mimed several battles. Watched a Netflix movie about a little boy named Diego who rescues his friends. Worn out, he fell asleep in Grandpa's lap while I checked e-mail to take care of a few newsletter details. Once he woke up and had a cup of hot chocolate, he invited me into his tent (a blanket) and we sat huddled together whispering secrets until his dad came home. It was exhausting but one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon.

On Wednesday we'll be flying to a resort in Florida for a Bowman family reunion. About 22 members of the family will be arriving from Texas, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana and California. We'll be swimming, playing tennis, listening to favorite songs compiled by son, JJ, and just enjoying each other's company.

From there, I will fly to Chicago for a reunion of my sorority sisters from Eastern Illinois University. Some I haven't seen in 40 years but I know we'll pick up right where we left off.