Author Archives: Sarah

She’s a Midwesterner

Posted on March 10, 2012 | 1 Comment

Greg got up with Eleanor this morning, and I came downstairs about a half-hour later. When I did, Greg told me that he had found Eleanor in her bathroom with all of her stuffed animals.

“She told me that Da-wayne was in her room,” Greg said, sounding uncertain.

“Dwayne?” I said. “We don’t know anyone named Dwayne.”

Eleanor is forever seeing imaginary things in her room that scare her, so this was nothing new.

A while later, still curious, I asked Eleanor why she had been hiding in her bathroom after she woke up.

“I was scared of the rain,” she said.

A-ha! Da rain, Greg! Just like da Bears! You should know about that. You’re from Chicago.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Parenthood

In training

Posted on February 17, 2012 | Comments Off

I’m sorry that I’ve been absent here lately. I’ve been balancing chemical equations and performing psychological experiments on Eleanor. School is going well so far, and all of that nerdiness I displayed as a child seems to still be with me.

Greg came home from work yesterday with a sore ankle. Well, the ankle was sore from tae kwon do, not from his job. I rushed between the stove and the kitchen table with our dinner and then nagged Greg to set out some drinks on the table already. He gave me an annoyed look and hobbled over to the refrigerator.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I forgot about your ankle.”

We ate our dinner and then I left for a meeting. When I returned home, Greg was washing dishes. I leaned on the counter and filled him in on the meeting. Several pots still sat on the stove. Greg went over to the stove, threw another annoyed look my way, and hobbled back over to the sink with the pots.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry,” I said. “I forgot about your ankle again. Do you think we could just wrap one of those big ace bandages around it to help me remember that you’re hurt?”

I am going to be an awesome nurse.

Comments Off

Posted in Shenanigans

Good riddance, 2011

Posted on December 31, 2011 | 1 Comment

Here’s a recap of my year: job loss, shingles, stillbirth.

This year has punched me, shoved me down and trampled me. On many days, I have wanted to walk into a hospital and request a leg amputation. Then people could see the hurt I’ve been through. Instead, I am left fumbling for words every time a stranger asks “Is she your only child?” or “Why did you decide to go back to school?”

Do I invite them into my world? Most people — parents especially — really don’t want to hear about children dying.

And yet so many people have listened — neighbors who I hadn’t met before, friends who I hadn’t talked to in years. We literally got cards from strangers, people who had never met us but heard about Genevieve from our friends and relatives. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so loved and so sad at the same time. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you.

I’m looking forward to 2012. I have to believe it will be better than 2011. I’ll end the year with a bit of wisdom from Winston Churchill: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Unusual