Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Blogging for Jennifer Wahlquist Day

It's Blogging For Jennifer Wahlquist Day...Did you know?

Well it is, and I'm down with it. Downtown and all around.

The title "Blogging for Jennifer Wahlquist Day" kind of reminds me of a show I would watch on afternoon TV when I was home from school sick. It was called "Dialing For Dollars". They would show an old movie and during the commercial breaks they would have this big bin with every body's phone numbers in it and a guy in heavy rimmed glasses would roll the bin, pull out a number, and call that person on the telephone, and if they were watching, they won some dollars. They never called me. Or my house.

Jennifer is my niece-in-law and I love her. And I love her husband Todd. And their 3 amazing kids. And I love Todd's wonderful mother: Tim's sister Diana, who has helped keep the household running during the last 8 months. Since September, Jennifer's life has been in a Dialing for Dollars bin, spinning around and around and some random be-speckled weirdo has been pulling out all kinds of wrong numbers:

Bone Marrow Transplant
Graft Vs. Host Disease
In the Hospital
Out of the Hospital
In
Out
In
Out
pneumotosis
enterobacter aerogenes
streptococcus viridans
third colonoscopy
hook up antibiotics to the IV port in your vein
feeding tube out of her nose.
in her nose
out of her nose
gram negative rods, a nasty kind of bacteria
IVIG infusions
high dose steroids
skin rash
"D" word.
I lifted these terms from their blog, which has kept us all posted, with love, humor and a touch of sketchy politics. No offense Charlie T.
.
Now I admit that putting all these nasty terms in one blog is not their way, (too negative) but I did it, because collectively, over the months, these are the words that have manipulated their lives. And I'm proud of them for not backing down to them.
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So to celebrate Jennifer Wahlquist Blogging Day, I propose a new list. A list that is fitting to what I have seen happening to the hearts of Jennifer, her family, and all who know her. Drum roll, fanfare, and three handfuls of gold and silver sparkles in the air if you please:
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Faith
Courage
Quick to Pray
Grit
Introspection
Desire
Perseverance
Togetherness
Love
Humor
Fun
More Love
Even More Love than Before
Support
Kindness
Sacrifice
Serving Gladly
Warmth
Knit Together
Family
Abundance
Grace
.
So Yeah. They're Awesome. And Taryn, I heartily raise my hand.
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PS. Jennifer, Todd, Clara, Amelia, Charlie T., Diana, Brent: I heart you, I love you, and my prayers are with you every single day. Keep on keeping on. You can do this!

4 comments:

Taryn said...

Love love love this post. You're the bomb, Mommacita.

JuJu said...

I will think about Jennifer Wahlquist and your family for some time to come. Please pass on my warm thoughts and prayers to her!

Katie said...

When I got up this morning, I just thought it was Earth Day. I had no idea it was blogging for Jennifer Wahlquist day too. In fact, I had no idea who Jennifer Wahlquist was. That's where you came in. It's true when they say that you learn something new everyday.
I went and checked out their blog...that Charlie T. is one clever fella.
Love this post. A lot.

Kristen said...

All of these were wonderful....