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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Angel

Rosanna Porter is a good friend of my parents and she is also the author of a series of children's books. They are about a little mouse named Tofu Ling. She has had two Tofu Ling books published already. So, when she asked me if she could use Lila as a sort of muse, if you will, for her latest installment, I said sure. Lila has now been immortalized as an adorable white mouse in Rosanna's latest book, Tofu Ling and the Angel.

The book is extra awesome because it is dedicated to Lila and two other kids who have fought with a life threatening illness and won. Big time. Some of the proceeds from the sale of this book are going to charities that the three families have chosen. Our charity is The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke for obvious reasons I would think, but if you still need one, it's because they saved my kids life. In a nutshell.

Added bonus: Lila is a finger puppet. Eeeeeek. How freaking cute is that?

So, I think you should buy it. So, do it already.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Port

She looks happy right?

That's because she's getting her port taken out on November 2nd. The port was surgically implanted into a vein in her chest to administer medications, chemo, and also so they could take blood to run labs.

Guess what, chumps? She doesn't need it anymore.

Something to smile about indeed.

And yeah, that's a bow in her hair. Enough hair for a bow. Joy.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

So Long Summer

It's been fun

but I am ready to move on.

Bring on the State Fair, Halloween, and a holiday dedicated entirely to eating.

This time last year we missed the fair because Lila was either in the hospital or too sick to leave the house.
Not this year, suckers.
We are definitely going and she may well vomit, but not from chemo.
From eating her weight in cotton candy and those big freakin' turkey legs--count on it.
I love Fall.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Remembering

I went to NYC at the end of December 2001.
My friend and I waited in a 3 hour line to stand on a wooden platform and look down at the devastation.
By then it looked just like any other giant construction site, but it was so much more than that.
On the evening news, they announced that 3 more bodies had been found in the rubble that same day.
I cried that night. I felt that I had made a mockery of people's grief by standing in a line to look at death and destruction.
I don't feel guilty now. It's all about intent.
I was paying my respect in the only way I knew how. I feel confident that the millions of people who have looked down on it since were doing the exact same thing.
Having lived in NYC since 9/11 I know that life goes on for everyone. But, I also know that even though people are going about their lives as usual, they are remembering. In their own way. And that's all we can do.