Warning: "Now we're on the right track!"

It's nearly the first anniversary of my blogsite! The 13th of January was my initial posting to "A 'Day' in the life of.....Kim!" Toot on your little kazoo horns and throw confetti in the air--I made it a year!

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Today is also an anniversary, actually starting yesterday, in 2001. On January 11th, 2001, I'd had abdominal surgery to repair some muscle tears, ironically, from having had a C-section when Timmy was born in 1996. My surgery was delayed that day and in order for them to better observe me, the surgeon wanted me to stay overnight in the hospital instead of coming home the same day as the procedure. My sister, Lynn, and Mom were at my house to help care for the boys, and they all came up to the hospital that evening to see me, including my spouse. At first I was concerned that Timmy would be tearing around the room and causing a disturbance but he was really quite subdued at the time.

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My former spouse had picked up our new work truck that day and the boys got a chance to ride in it. They all had to leave after visiting hours were over, and Timmy looked so sad as he kissed me good-bye. It was then he asked the hopefully immortal question: "I know God and Jesus are going to sleep with Mama tonight, but who's going to sleep with my daddy?" Pete, then our Pastor, referenced this in his sermon at Timmy's funeral, stating that we all knew Timmy was a believer (paraphrasing). No wonder Timmy was sad, he was worried not about his poor mama, because she was all set with God and Jesus, but about his father who had no one to sleep with....................

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So, it was today, 8 years ago, that I was able to come home to recuperate and be waited on hand and foot by my family. Lynn had to catch the bus and head home to WI that same day but Mom was still there. They'd arrived on my birthday, the 30th, in the wee hours of the morning, when I had to drive downtown to the bus depot to collect them. They seemed to think it was safer for them to wait around the bus depot until a civil hour for me to come get them than for me to drive downtown at 2:00 a.m. to get them home again!!! Oh, those two monkeys and their Greyhound buses! Lynn and the boys made a birthday cake for me later in the day and we had a small party on the 30th. So, my point was that Lynn had been there since the 30th and stayed long enough to help get the boys driven around on the day I was in the hospital, and then she headed home.

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They have a funny memory of that as well: Lynn was driving and Mom was shotgun as they headed toward St. Johns to drop the boys off at school. Lynn went out of our neighborhood a different way and found herself at a stop sign with the option of a left or right-hand turn. All three passengers are directing her to the left, saying "left, left, left" as Lynn proceeded to go right anyway! Of course, she got turned around after saying, "Ach!" a couple times, I'm sure, and was headed in the right direction. From the backseat came a little boy's voice announcing, "Now we're on the right track!", a quip that continues to make us chuckle, a bit sadly, to this day. "Now we're on the right track!"