blessings

Last night, my little brother, Nathan, had chest surgery. He had this condition (Pectus Excavatum) where his ribs curl in instead of forming the cage they're supposed to. The Haller Index (measuring the indentation of the chest) is set at 3.5 to consider surgery and Nathan's was at 6.45 and his MRI scan showed a deformity in his right atrium and ventricle from the depression. The procedure was to remove the cartilage from his sternum and ribs and insert metal plates to hold the ribs further out.

To say the least, surgery freaks me out.. I was stressed and worried. But luckily, all went just as planned and Nathan has started the recovery process. I feel so blessed and grateful how great things have gone thus far.

UPDATE:

He is currently watching Madagascar and is happy as a clam.

A few minutes ago, I was in the lunch room of Primary Children's Hospital and met a remarkable woman. Her fourteen year old daughter recently became paralyzed. She was laying on a hammock, with three friends, at a pool party, when the brick column holding up the deck the hammock was supported by collapsed on her and broke her neck. For weeks they didn't know if their daughter would ever be able to speak again. She has made significant progress and now her biggest concern is the scar left on her forehead (like most teenage girls would =])This mother was so positive about a situation I can barely even imagine. She will probably never know it but she inspired me so much.

There will always be trials given to us. Some bigger than others. But we will never be given more than we can handle. It is just important to find the blessings and lessons that accompany hardships and remember that the Lord knows our capabilities better than we do.

I open at the close

As a little girl, I loved when my dad would go on business trips throughout Europe. Of course I missed him while he was gone but he always came back with gifts for us.

When I was six, he returned from London with a book for Kristin and me. What he found was a freshly released title from a no name author. J.K. Rowling.. sound fimiliar? My dad brought home a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

I still remember him reading aloud to us in a room lit soley by flickering candles. I remember crawling into bed with my big sister, the night he read the chapter about the mountain troll because I was too scared to sleep alone.
I remember my friends at school discovering the story I had already fallen in love with, a year later when it was released in the US and feeling proud that I had read it first.

Since then, my life has been filled with Hermione Granger dress ups, a Harry Potter themed birthday party, and wishing a letter in emarald green writing would turn up in my mailbox when I turned eleven; with crushes on the stars and with later realizing that they are not very attractive yet still finding them endearing; with high anticipation and longing to read and to see what would happen next; with midnight book releases and movie premieres.

Last night, I attended the last of those premieres and of course it didn't disappoint. I soaked up every second of the beautifully done finale. As the end credits began to roll, my tears did as well. It was all over. A series that has been such a vital part of my childhood has come to a close.

But really.. that is a ridiculous thought. These books and movies will always be around to whisk me away. More importantly, all my great memories marinated by my imagination of the wizarding world will stick with me.

Someday I'll read to my children in a dim room by the candle light, watching them venture off to worlds of their own and allow the whole process to begin again



"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"