A Date At Night

He LOVES his Great Aunt Beverly

Several months ago our youngest who is now 11 said; "Mom, one day can we go on a date at night?"  Often I take the boys on a one on one "date".   We spend time laughing, talking and doing an activity they enjoy.  Its a time of bonding, a time to talk, a time to listen, a time to laugh and a time to build great memories.  A few months ago when my youngest and I were yet again coming home from a late night visit to the ER he said; "Mom, one day can we go on a date at night?"  I said; "Where would we go?"  He said; "How about we just get in the car, get dinner and drive to Columbia!"  Well, considering that is 100 miles away I chuckled and said something like, "Well, one day we will just have to go on a late night date!"  Well, as much as I hate to admit it, life got busy, and although I thought of it a few times, a late night date in the summer means 9pm or later and it seemed to be put to the back of my to do list.

He loves this little man William.  He rocked him
to sleep then did not want to put him down
so he just rested in Caleb's arms.  

About four years ago he had a life altering accident.  We had a new paved "black road" as the kids called it, it was a place where bikes, skateboards, roller blades, any toy with wheels were screaming in every kids garage "TAKE ME TO THE BLACK ROAD!"  Our oldest begged to walked to the "black road" to try out his new rip-stick.  While there our youngest, the dare devil, decided with the logic of a 7 year old that it would be fun to get on the rip-stick and hold on to a jacket of a boy riding a bike, in a moment, in the blink of any eye his life would be forever changed.   He was whipped and thrown from a rip-stick (two wheel skateboard) and hit his head on the curb (no, he did not have his helmet because he was just a tag along).  He blacked out, lost memory, did not know his name, and was taken to the hospital where we found out he had a skull fracture.  At that time we were told 6-8 week recovery and he'll be just fine.  If that were only the case.  Since, he has had a complete personality change (but still a sweetie pie), he went from loving extreme sports to being timid, he has memory loss, concentration problems, speech problems, he picks up strange "ticks" from time to time and so on.  Needless to say the 6-8 weeks of rest was not the answer.  Following up again we were told sometimes these affects can last 4-5 years.

I love that in the children's hospital ER
with all the cool stuff they offer kids, he
chooses to watches the weather channel!

Last week he was stretching his back and when he leaned backwards he felt a "pop" in his head.  He then felt a warming sensation followed by in his words "nails running down a chalk board".  He then became dizzy and stumbled a few times.  His brother felt his head and said; "Compared to the rest of his head, it was hot in the spot where he felt the pop."

There were no conclusion at the ER and we're following up with a pediatric neurologist to see what is going on.  This is not a medical post, as I'll leave that up to the professionals.  This is simply a post of a busy Mom who is thankful that for a date at night. 

It was around 4:00am when we were given the news; "We think (don't you love that word) for now he is not in critical care, so we're going to send you home, but we're putting in a referral for him to see the neurologist and if you don't hear from them by tomorrow call this number.  It would be a good idea to keep an eye on him through out the night until you get into see the neurologist."  Oh, so reassuring and comforting those words were to this Mom.

Having been through testing, poking and prodding for several hours he was hungry.  Trying to find a restaurant open at 4:00 am is no easy task but there is always good ole McDonald's!    As we pulled into McDonalds my heart was flooded with gratefulness that we were pulling into McDonalds, knowing the outcome could have been drastically different and not knowing what were were facing, I was flooded with memories of his birth, his 11 years of life, the day he accepted Christ into his heart, and the moments of joy and laughter he has brought to our family.

After getting breakfast we began our 20 minute trip home.  Tired from the night and ready for bed he was not!  As we pulled away he said:  "Mom, you ok?  You look funny!"  I smiled and said "I look like its 4am!"  We had a good laugh and he continued talking, "Well, Mom, we have food, its dark, we're on our night date!"  We laughed and I said with a heavy heart, "We sure are Buddy!"  Although it was 4am, and I was physically exhausted, I decided this was the perfect time for a "Date at Night!"

He loves our new "big bridge" as he calls it, and we don't go that direction much, instead of going straight, I took a sharp turn the the right and he said with excitement "Mom, where are you going?  This is not the way home!" I said; "Well, since were on our date, we're going the long way home!"  With the biggest burst of excitement, he sat up in his seat, looked at me and said "This is GREAT!"  We drove over the bridge and he looked at all the lights, talked about how different it looks at night, he looked straight up with amazement at the cables, laughed at stories of him and Dad walking across and fell in love with our city at night.

As we continued on our night date, he reached over, patted me on the arm and said; "You're the best Mom EVER!"  A date at night.  Very little money involved (well, lets not add in the hospital bill), just time.  This way home we go over several smaller bridges and have lots to see.  He talked the entire time and together we each etched a precious memory.

When we arrived home at 5:30 am he was content with our "Date at Night" he was tired complaining of being dizzy and he used up every last word.  After greeting the dog, he turned out the light, looked at me and whispered; "I'm glad I'm home Mom!"  I knew what he meant and as he hugged me goodnight, I could say nothing else but "I'm glad you're home too Buddy!"

Brothers and Best Friends

We don't know what the future holds but as I've been reminded so many times, I know who holds our future.  When each nurse, each PA, each doctor, each specialist heard his story of the "pop" they all had the same response; "Wow! ummm, wow!"  In my heart, I know God has worked a miracle in this little boys life.  He was a miracle conception, it was a miracle birth and from birth we prayed to Christ and said "You're will be done".  Today, that holds true, for we know there is no better place to be then in His will and we continue to trust Him each day and as I'm reminded to be thankful for each day, today I'm especially thankful for a date at night.