I'm back! Last week we were in Vashon, an island in Puget Sound, taking care of the family of our oldest son, whose wife slipped on the ice and broke her ankle in three places. They have two kids under three. The other grandparents had been there for a week. It was our turn to be there while Chris took Natalie for the surgery to put in pins and a plate. Their house is in the midst of construction to double the size. Total chaos! It couldn't have been a worse time for this accident. Natalie was putting in the final touches on a major graphic arts project, and even in severe pain, she was looking at proofs, painfully dragging herself on crutches to the computer to finish the project.
The kids are quite wonderful. Caroline, at ten months is just cruising the perimeters of her world, smiley, loves to eat with her facile fingers. Her big brother Joe, almost three, is so precociously verbal, you don't understand right away that, really, he is just a little guy. He was so worried about his mom. When she returned from the long day of surgery and was reclining on the couch, Joe tried tapping and then hitting her cast. I said, "Joe, I know you hate this thing! We all hate this bad ankle! But it will get better soon. Meantime, we need to be so gentle so it will heal fast." Joe is angry about the disruptions in his life. But he has the security of two parents who work at home. He has always been welcome in the shop a few steps away where his dad works, or in the house where his mom works. I am in awe of these two parents who have produced these secure and loving kids!
Andy and I spent time doing the relentless child care. So many meals and shopping, so many diaper changes, so much stuff to pick up off the floor, so much laundry and cleaning, so much time watching kids who want to fling themselves down stairs, or climb up them for no apparent reason, poke fingers into sockets, so much energy getting kids to nap and go to bed, take baths. Just getting two kids into and out of the car seats was major. (Our life is so easy!) And then there are books to read, clothes to find, tiny cars to pick up off the floor. But mainly, you have to be constantly vigilant, making sure they are safe and loved. We never want the parents to come home and find a dented child!
After our week we were pretty tired, especially after the twelve hour trip back across the country. I was so looking forward to being home! I wanted my place, the garden, the owls and coyotes howling at night, the sandhill cranes calling wild and free. I wanted our dog to snuggle down at the foot of the bed.
I wanted to connect with our daughter and her partner and our grandson, Quincy. Nothing is easy, however. Our daughter is struggling with what could be a serious autoimmune problem, and we are worried about that. As I walk out from my studio to look at the almost full moon in a crisp night, I think about how intensely I love my children. I would be devastated to lose any of them. (What are we thinking to send so many of our children to war?)
And the Lacoochee kids I worked with today are as valuable as any creatures on the planet! Children are in my head (and heart).
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