Dear Friends and Family,
When in rapid succession this morning Nancy answered the phone with the smile reserved for first Jayna and then Jaret, I decided it might be a good time to update you on the kids—especially since she related to me everything she heard on the other end.
“Hi, Mom. Guess what? I just gave blood.”
“That’s wonderful, Jaret. You might help save a life.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
I know I mentioned in one of my very early letters that when Jaret was in kindergarten, he disliked everything about Halloween. “I don’t want a costume,” he’d protest on the day most kids couldn’t wait for school to show off their newest outfit. Not only did he hate costumes, he was afraid of masks, and Jaret even despised carved pumpkins. As he grew up, so did his “blacklist.” It expanded to all things medical. He would hide when we passed graveyards. He had an aversion to bones and blood, until his mother got sick.
Jaret stepped up big time when his mom became ill. He spent more time in the hospital last year than most kids do in their entire lives. He even relieved Jayna for a few of the all-night shifts with Nancy. And I can’t forget his efforts to clean up the bloody mess when Nancy inadvertently pulled her central IV line out in the Salt Lake City apartment kitchen. So it is only fitting that Jaret has matured enough to donate blood as he finishes his last semester of college—voluntarily.
As far as Jayna’s status, yesterday, I received a call at 7:45 a.m.
“No, Jayna, I’m the first shift today. I’m on my way to work.”
“I am, too. This is hard, Dadder. It’s so early. I’m used to getting ten hours of sleep a night. Today that would have meant getting up around twelve. I guess I’ll have to call it a night a bit earlier than two in the morning. We went dancing last night.”
“I have a better idea, Jayna. Why don’t you just tell everyone that you speak Spanish and need a midday siesta? We really don’t want work interfering with your dancing.”
“You’re absolutely no help, Dadder. Well, I’m here. So have a great day. I love you.”
Jayna graduated college this summer and began her first job while she (like many of her peers) is figuring out what to do next. Five days each week, she sits at a desk working as an online travel agent for Overstock.com in Salt Lake City. It’s great having her nearby Nancy and me. And on some mornings, it’s worth a few good laughs as she adjusts to the “working” world that the rest of us live in every day.
Summary: The fog of the past year is slowly lifting for our children. It is so wonderful to see them returning to ordinary lives. Nancy and I feel the same way.
With much love,
Winnie