Legos and Ice Skates

January 28, 2008

Erin, Colby, Courtney (three extremely cute kids!), and a large number of really generous folks plan to get together at the Arctic Wolf Ice Rink this evening to kick off the founding of a local chapter of Candlelighters. Candlelighters, if you don't already know, "provides hope, support, education, and advocacy to every member of any family whose child has been diagnosed with cancer."

Even though more children than you can possibly imagine are diagnosed with cancer in our area, we don't yet have the facilities to treat them in town. Most travel to Houston, Temple, Austin, or much farther for their entire treatment plan and follow-up schedule. Those of you who know us, realize how much time we have spent in Houston (or on the road getting there and getting back) over the last five and a half years. Candlelighters attempts to make that necessity more palatable through tangible support for families during and after treatment. Please read more about them at their website, http://www.brazosvalleycandlelighters.org/. The founder, Melanie Chandler, knows first hand that childhood cancer changes everything. Her daughter, Lindsey (a twelve year survivor of childhood leukemia and the inspiration for her mom's effort to start this organization here in the Brazos Valley), can't attend One Cool Event tonight. This young college student has spent the last week battling pneumonia and whooping cough. Did I say whooping cough? Yep. Her transplant treatment took away the effectiveness of her immunizations, making her susceptible for the remainder of her life to diseases that most of us think went away when our grandparents passed. Most of us live gladly with such negative long-term effects, as the price we pay for successfully eradicating cancer from our children's body. Sigh.

Anyway, Erin is one of the guests this evening, and I think in addition to the Atkinson Scion zamboni ballet, a demonstration by some of the finest young skaters in the area, and some other yet-to-be-revealed attractions, Erin is going to captain a chair ice hockey team. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out what in my shabby, very Southern wardrobe, I can wear to a black-tie/cocktail formal gala at an ice rink (where, incidentally, I have shivered in my polar tech and stadium coat every other time I have visited). Another sigh.

Yesterday, I thought Erin might be another no-show at the event. She bounced up for breakfast after a good night sleep and promptly fell back asleep on the sofa after she finished her French toast. I tried to rally her, since the children's choir was scheduled to sing at worship, but she had a drippy nose, croaky throat, and not enough oomph to get dressed. Walter and I left her with my mom. She seemed to feel better by the time we returned, but I've learned about enforcing downtime when she gets a little under the weather. I insisted on a pajama day and quiet play. No company.

She had me pull out all twelve drawers of Legos and the box with the Lego instruction booklets. Many of you know that the only gift Davis requested for birthday, Christmas, or any special occasion for about a decade was Legos. After he put together a set, following the instruction guide, he would store the new ones with all the old ones in drawers, organized by color and function. So all the wheels and axles from all the sets went in one drawer, all the Lego people parts and accessories, in another, hinged pieces in another (you get the idea). Plain pieces (the only ones they made when I was a kid) had their own drawers, too: black, white, red, and so on for the rest of the colors.

What did Erin have in mind? She is unsorting all of Davis's sets. She pulls out a set of instructions, finds and assembles all the required pieces, and then puts the item along with the instructions in a slider bag so that pieces from one set don't have to intermingle with pieces from disparate sets. It kept her busy for hours yesterday, and if she sticks with the plan may keep her busy until she leaves for college. I finally made her slip on some shoes and take a stroll around the lake to check our blue bird nesting boxes (sadly not much blue bird action. . . yet).

Say it again, with feeling: "Vickie and Walter, you have such interesting children."

I'd like to end this entry by referring you to Alex Podeszwa's website. Alex traveled from the Dallas area to Texas Children's Hospital last year to take part in an experimental treatment, as part of an effort to scrub up his thus-far recalcitrant neuroblastoma. In addition to doing a bang up job caring for Alex, Sophie, and Charlotte, Ann and David have taken a very active advocacy role in trying to secure passage of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. They have recently returned from a lobbying trip to D.C. and have posted a very informative Q and A about the whole pediatric cancer funding issue. If you need fodder for your next letter (nudge, nudge, hint, hint) you should check out their link.