Mystery Cake

Yesterday afternoon the kids found a big chocolate cake left outside our back door. They came running in to tell me about it. I have to admit I was curious, so out I went. Sure enough a chocolate cake was all alone in the great big back yard outside my door. No note.Nothing more.

I went through a mental checklist of who might have left it. Neighbors? Friends? Enemies?

Hmmmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

I told you last week that we have started doing Sunday night tea parties with Fairy Tales . This cake seemed to fit right into the plan. I slipped it into the refrigerator gingerly. The children could not get over the mystery. They asked me a hundred times who left the cake. Since none of my guesses seemed to answer their curiosity I finally said "Well, it could be a wicked witch that left it there for us all. Maybe it's poisoned and we'll all fall into a deadly sleep after eating it."

Their eyes grew to the size of pie pans. At tea time we set the whole table again. Sarah said one more time:

"Mom, who left the cake?"

I turned it around on her "Sarah, who do you think left the cake?"

"A WITCH!"

"Really?"

"YES!" she answered giggling.

"Do you think it's poisoned?"

She grew very quiet, and then grew thoughtful

"No, it's not poisoned- I think she'll just come and chop off our heads later."

(She really wanted that cake!)

Needless to say it was really delicious and apparently (thankfully) not poisoned.In fact I am pretty certain that the intrigue behind the cake made it taste better somehow. We read The Princess and the Pea  and and The Six Swans while we gobbled and drank. I am still unsure who our mystery cake giver is today having checked out a few of the usual suspects, but am very grateful!

Peter's Heaven

We had an interesting discussion over dinner recently. The younger kids were asking what heaven would be like and both Fred and I were trying to explain that you would no longer get sick, or feel pain, and would be perfectly happy yadda yadda. Peter spoke up. He said for years he always has pictured in his mind heaven as being a place with golden walls meeting at 90 degree angles and stretching on for miles, with some random people milling around within it.

I asked him if that thought made him happy, he said no. I asked him how it made him feel, he said bored. I told him it couldn't be heaven. This isn't the first time I have run across that type of thought. Not only have I heard it from countless people over the years, but I can also remember having my own image of heaven as a child that was also way off ( though admittedly more fun). My mental picture of heaven was  an ice cream cone with about 95 well balanced scoops of different ice cream on a perfect cone. The ice cream didn't melt or drip and I had all the time I needed to finish it. ( Which incidentally Fred swears is right on the money) That image stayed with me for a long time. 

It is pretty hard to picture perfect isn't it? It is for me.

Night Walk

Fred spent the day raking and blowing leaves into a ginormous pile in our yard. The little ones really tried hard to help him. So after dinner he announced "Let's go for a night walk!" The little ones all kind of looked hesitant. "What's a night walk?" Fred simply said "You'll see." and had them get their coats on.

We drove to the other side of town, off a dirt road, back past a field, and came to the Elder cemetery. Its a place Fred and I have gone on walks before to, but only during daylight. The Elders were the first family to settle our town and they have a beautiful little cemetery fenced in with a clear walking path that is simply gorgeous to stroll down on a crisp day. It's really off the beaten path.

Of course it was night. Fred wanted to scare the kids a little and this certainly had all the elements to do so. The moon is full tonight so we had that added benefit as well. It is cold out but just enough to turn your breath white and not enough to freeze your ears. Kinda perfect actually. We walked down the spooky dirt path illumined by the moon.We were  far enough away from the world to hear nothing but the breezy night air and the crackling of leaves underfoot.

The kids were freaked out with happiness and fright all at once. They couldn't really believe we were taking them out in the dark (to a graveyard no less) but they were also happy to be together and since Dads can clearly  keep us safe from all ghosts and goblins and creepy things that lurk in the dark, we were plenty safe.

We ended with a trip to Dairy Queen. Sarah wanted 'banilla' ice cream and Mary wanted a blister ( blizzard).

Bedtime Savings

The kids have been a little rambunctious the last few nights before bedtime. I am not sure if it's just because they haven't been able to spend as much time outdoors with the cooler weather lately. Either way, evenings have been a little wild. 

Tonight Fred announced to the children it was Bedtime Savings. They all looked puzzled as he explained "Bedtime savings is a lot like daylight savings. Parents get to send their children to bed one hour early in order to save their energy for the morning." They were disgruntled but actually followed through with PJ"s and brushing teeth so it worked. 

I wonder how long it will be till they catch on....

A Different Kind of Generous

I got a call a few weeks  back from my niece Jessie. She cut to the chase pretty quickly:

"My friend Allison needs a kidney and I'm a match, I'm gonna be a donor."

(Mental time out- this is what happened to my thoughts-cue Twilight Zone music) 

Wow. OK. silently trying to soak in this information is a bit of a trip. Almost instinctively I asked myself if I could ever do something like that. I didn't think so. Maybe for my kids, or a sibling? Hmmm I wonder? How 'bout a friend? It would have to be a pretty good friend to even consider it. Heck no, I don't think I'm that kind of generous. Actually, come to think of it- I haven't even checked off the box on the back of my license to be a donor as I'm not even sure yet that I won't need my kidneys after I'm dead. Clearly Jess and I are in a different place. Giving away organs is a whole different kind of generous. Its not  even like a scrooge-after-the-three-ghosts-generous, it's more like a Jesus-kind-a-generous. GULP. 

(Mental time in-wake up- you're still on the phone-resume the conversation.)

 There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before I found my footing. What I could determine very quickly was that Jessie wasn't calling to ask my permission or even to get my opinion. She simply needed my ears and more importantly, my heart. To be honest I was relieved to be in that position and decided to keep it that way by not weighing in on 'what I thought' Jess should do. (I was not the lead role but was hoping for a best supporting actress in this drama.) I asked how her husband Steve felt about it and she confirmed he was incredibly supportive. 

The rest of the conversation came easily as she breathed a sigh of relief and was able to give me details. A few months ago she called her friend and her Mom informed her that Allison, who has Cystic Fibrosis; and has already undergone a double lung transplant, now needed a kidney. Her family members were being tested. Jess says she hung up the phone and turned to her husband and said aloud "None of their kidneys are going to work; I'm going to be her match and I'm going to give her my kidney, I know it." She said afterwards she laughed, but that from that moment on, she knew from someplace inside that was right and true. Sure enough, as each person was ruled out or stepped back, Jess stepped forward and offered to be tested. She was indeed a match. The screening process is a long one and there is plenty of time to assess, and reassess, and re-reassess that decision. Plenty of long grueling time.

She was hesitant to tell anyone else, even in the family as she knew that she would be likely to hear plenty of opposition. People who love you are very likely to have some pretty strong opinions over whether or not you should give away body part's; particularly while you are still using them.She has children to consider and her own life and health after all. What if it didn't even work?  She was already hearing various strains of "BEWARE DOROTHY !!! GO BACK!!!" as she scooted around her small town from locals. Each of these warnings made Jess rethink the whole thing again, hesitate and doubt herself and her decision, only to return once again to it a bit stronger.

Shortly before the surgery, when nerves were running high she called for my ears again. She told me someone was questioning her motivation. So I stopped her and put the question to her plainly: "Jess what is your motivation for doing this?" Without hesitation she answered me:

There can only be one motivation.

 My friend is sick.

 She needs a kidney.

 I am a match.

 She can have mine. 

I felt instantly humbled. The surgery took place yesterday. I stupidly had no number for her and spent the better part of the afternoon wondering how she fared.So like all of us living with modern technology, I checked her facebook page wondering what kind of support one offers to an organ donor in the world of facebook. Was that even possible? Sure enough a plethora of well wishes flooded the screen.

Allison is recovering nicely from what I hear and her new kidney is already functioning. Jess came through the surgery beautifully too, and when I spoke to her this morning she sounded peaceful and well. She is genuinely happy to have given this gift to her friend. A gift of life.  She is a hero in my opinion.

 Love you Jess! xoxo
(P.S. Fred and the boys send this song out to you and Allison both!)