It Was a Weekend

Friday I went to Nashville to Vanderbilt Hospital for a regular port flush. All normal there, except that I hate walking into the registration room at the cancer clinic and seeing a room full of very, very sick people. Fully knowing that I was once one of them and could be again. Puts a damper on my day every time.

After all my talk of rain last week, we did finally see some blue skies. Beautiful!

Friday afternoon I got word that my dad was being admitted to the hospital for observation because he'd had a small stroke. A stroke! Now maybe Becky had cancer at 29; maybe my brother had major colon surgery in his mid-twenties; maybe I had/have cancer at 35; maybe Elizabeth had a preemie baby and knee surgery that required breaking her shin and a 9-12 month recovery. Clearly, the Hale children have issues. But my parents? They're not allowed to be sick. So a 5-bypass heart surgery this spring plus this small stroke makes it feels like my world is crumbling a little.

I am super, super thankful that there do not seem to be lingering effects from the stroke. Mom and dad spent the weekend at the hospital, but came home last night, and they're back to work this morning. Very grateful for that. The reason for the stroke and how much we need to be worried about a recurrence is still to be determined.

But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Saturday I felt like crawling into a deep dark hole and hiding instead of choosing to recite Psalm 46 over and over in my head. It's all okay. Bad things happen sometimes, but it's all going to be okay. The battle between fear and choosing to trust rages in my head and in my heart. It's hard work. Maybe that choice should come easily, but it just doesn't.

Speaking of bad things, Rory spent most of her weekend looking for this overdue library book. Instead of shouts of joy when she finally found it, she cried. So, so typical. And, ummm, of course, I took a picture!

We took a trip to the farmer's market Saturday. Since we've been growing a few of our own vegetables, we haven't visited as often this summer. We came away with corn, purple hull peas (which only Brian likes), a cantaloupe, and farm eggs.

And our own garden? This is how many tomatoes we picked just on Saturday. And this doesn't count the entire bucket of green beans (which are already cooked and waiting to be eaten in my fridge) and the bucket of banana peppers. I don't even like banana peppers!