St. Louis Saga: Part 3 of 3

I promise that Part 3 of 3 is the shortest of the three-part saga.  It's actually not part of the saga itself at all.  Rather, it consists of a few of my reflections on the St. Louis/Blake mess.

First of all, the experience made me all the more grateful for family.  Appropriately, it is now November, the month of Thanksgiving, and I feel like I am filled with thankfulness in the aftermath of "St. Louis Saga: Part 2 of 3."  I am thankful for Blake's mom, Larry, dad, and Samantha, who cared for Blake while his neurotic, helpless wife was stuck half-way across the country.  I'm thankful that they sent me millions of text messages with constant updates regarding Blake's condition and progress.  And even before Blake was hospitalized, I am thankful for Larry's ready willingness to cart me and/or my parents around St. Louis, which included an absurdly early morning ride to the airport once I got my flight changed to fly home with my parents.  [And hopefully, it goes without saying, that I am thankful for the beautiful party that Randi and Chuck threw in Ryder's honor.]

Blake's absence also reminded me how grateful I am to have an amazing husband.  Blake will be the first to admit that he doesn't handle many baby-related "chores."  Typically, I feed Ryder, I bathe Ryder, I change Ryder, I dress Ryder, I pack Ryder's bags for school, I take Ryder to school each morning, I do Ryder's laundry, I get up with Ryder during the night on the rare occasion that he wakes, I take Ryder to the doctor when he is sick, etc. etc.  However, don't be fooled.  Neither my nor Ryder's world continue to go around (at least not smoothly) without Blake .  While he was gone, I experienced a tiny, tiny piece of what a single mom's life feels like.  I didn't like it.  I depend on Blake to take care of many of the house chores.  I depend on Blake to entertain Ryder while I get his bags and lunch ready for school in the morning.  I depend on Blake to watch and play with Ryder while I run to the restroom or put away laundry.  I depend on Blake for his support and companionship.  And I depend on him for more things than I could ever list in a silly blog.  Morever, I was lonely without Blake.  I must try harder not to take Blake for granted.

Next, I am eternally grateful for the help and support of my own parents.  My mom spent the night with me almost every night while Blake was gone.  As much as I appreciated her company so that I wouldn't have to stay in the house alone, her company was not just a comfort thing.  It was an actual necessity.  I was stuck in trial all week, which meant that I needed to be at work extra early to make it to the courthouse on time.  As such, I physically could not drive Ryder to school and drop him off in time to make it to work.  My mom generously stayed over so that she could drive Ryder to school for me each morning (and also, of course, to generally offer her help and support in whatever way I needed).  Both of my parents provided their love and support, as they always do.  That week truly would have been a complete mess without their help.

Last, but not least, I want to thank a particular group of my friends.  I don't know which of them actually follow this blog, so they may not read this themselves, but I still want to put it down in writing so that I can always look back and remember that the friends that I will undoubtedly still have thirty years from now, were just as amazing "back in the day."  I am referring to my GGN girls.  Emily was the first to know of Blake's St. Louis hospitalization, which is less than surprising because she is the type of friend that doesn't go more than a day or two without checking in to see how things are going in your life (and because she is an avid text-messager in general!).  She was sweet, concerned and sympathetic (as always) and immediately asked if she could pass the word on to the rest of our GGN crew.  As soon as word was out, each of the GGN gals sent texts or emails with words of support.  They asked what they could do to help.  The first night that I was home without Blake, Emily brought me some much-needed groceries.  Amy asked whether she could help with Ryder in some way.  Their texts and emails meant a ton to me, even though I was too anxious and overwhelmed to respond to all of them.  If you are a regular follower of my blog, you may recall that these are the same girls that brought me an AMAZING care package while Ryder was in the NICU.  To make a long story short, these girls are always there for me 100%, in good times and bad.  I can only strive to be as good a friend to them as they have been to me.  What's even more interesting is that I have known these girls for less than five years (even though it feels like I've known them much, much longer). I have friends who I have known for decades who have yet to even meet Ryder and who, to this day, may not even know that Blake had a recent hospitalization.  The point of this shout-out to my GGN friends is definitely not to shame or devalue other friendships that I have.  I wasn't advertising Blake's condition on Facebook, by any means, so many of my friends would have had no way of knowing what was going on in my life.  Furthermore, I have a number of life-long friends that live out-of-state.  My point is simply that the GGN girls are ever-present in my life, and they've never let me down.  If you girls are reading this.... I LOVE YOU!

Enough of the cheesiness.  I'm sorry if I made anyone gag.  Tough patches in life always make you grateful for the good things that you have, and I'm simply writing them down so that I can remind myself to be always grateful and never take things for granted.

[After re-reading this post, I must point out that the GGN girls were not my only friends to reach out and support me while Blake was sick.  I love and appreciate all of the others too.  The GGN crew was just due for some blog recognition, in my opinion.  'Cuz you know... I'm sure they have all been sitting around at home waiting for a Halpern Home blog mention.]