Of Hearts and Other Organs

My Dad being Grandpa

Two days after Thanksgiving my much-loved dad had a massive heart attack, which began the epic December I like to refer to as "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Michael and I spent a few days vacillating between going to Utah and staying in Oregon. Dad's hold on life was tenuous, but we couldn't decide whether we'd be a help or hinderance with my pregnant self and three kids thrown into the mix.

The first weekend of December Michael and I packed the kids and Christmas into the car to head to Utah two weeks earlier than anticipated. The decision was somewhat last minute, but after my teenage sister came down with a case of acute appendicitis requiring an emergency appendectomy (while my father was still in the ICU, mind you), we decided that the family needed to be in Utah more than the kiddos needed to be in school. My sis came through the surgery well, but required a lot of care and assistance through the next week.

It was comforting for me to be with the family while we waited for my dad's seven-vessel bypass surgery to be performed. I didn't even know such a surgery was possible. It was quite risky, to say the least . . . I'll admit seeing him in the ICU afterward with tubes and machines hooked to nearly every square inch of him was the scariest thing I've ever witnessed. But the surgery went well and he only required one additional week in the hospital before making it home just in time for Christmas. I should mention that while in the surgical waiting area we received news that my mom's sister had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer . . . something we weren't even able to mentally process at the time.

I don't know what kind of bliss must be waiting around the corner for my family, but I firmly believe that clouds like this don't come without some silver lining. The great news is that everyone is recovering, their prognosis is good and we eventually had a lovely Christmas.

The bad news is that I didn't blog at all the entire month and I have lots of catching up to do. Well, that and the fact that we returned home to remember that there is a significant amount of restoration work still to do in the laundry and kids' bedrooms due to a sewer backup that occurred just before Thanksgiving. Fortunately our landlady and the HOA are taking care of all that . . . I just get to live through it. Still, counting our blessings, I'm so thankful we don't own the house. Aside from the plumbing, can you imagine trying to sell in this market with new twins and an interstate move to orchestrate?

Please forgive and bear with me while I try to recover and unpack a three week trip to Utah and Christmas all at once. Heavens, I still even have a few Christmas cards left to mail!

Hope you all had a happy holiday!

P.S. Happy 34th anniversary Mom and Dad! Thanks Dad, for sticking around to celebrate it!