Mather Blather: World Spins On - Family time, Kidney Stone, and Start of School

Lily's excitement around starting high school and being busy with volleyball pushed the rest of the family into thinking about fall mode and mentally introducing the idea of working towards a family routine again. Besides Lily, the rest of us really wanted more downtime, summer mode, family time, and time to breathe and grieve. Eric remains very much on our minds. August plays a bit like a montage of vivid moments of our time with Eric, grieving as a family, quiet moments alone, and celebrating Eric all together with loved ones. I continue to play more music than ever before as a way to cope and connect with Eric.

We are one week into the new school year. Lily surprised us by making varsity volleyball as an outside hitter. We are super proud of her and also quickly learning that we see even less of Lily now. Elise surprised us by wanting to give cross country a try. I can't help but think Eric's well known love of running may have had something to do with that. We are super proud of her for giving it a try. She doesn't have sensation on much of her special foot and gets sore after too much time on it, yet here she is wanting to give it a go. Paul is still coming back from injury so his typical busy fall sports schedule is very light. I'm very curious how this all plays out once he's better. He is biking a lot more again and seems to like it. He also doesn't seem to be missing tennis that much. I just want him to find a sport that puts a fire in his butt to want to really work hard and put in the time.

We will remember the start of this school year with a trip to the emergency room. Elise passed a kidney stone! They all started with sudden screams from her bedroom. A parent knows their kid's sounds and I immediately knew something "big" was going on. Elise made it clear telling us that she needs to go to the ER quickly and while Nate and I bickered about whether to take her to the ER or call the doctor first, Elise had crawled down the stairs and was putting her shoes on to declare that she was going to the ER with or without us. After 2 hours of horrible pain, like a balloon popping inside her lower abdomen (as Elise described it), the pain went away. We didn't know until the very end of our six hour stay at the ER that it was a kidney stone, but all in all it was probably the best case outcome.

Nate was incredible being there for me and for our family in whatever way was needed. He even stepped out of his comfort zone and hosted our annual block party all on his own while I was with Eric and family. He had a family funeral of sweet Uncle Bill on the same day as Eric's funeral and he simply figured out a way to honor both, while driving back and forth between Ann Arbor and Chicago with Paul and Elise.

As we continue into Fall, I'm going to let a quote I read help keep me focused. "So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life, you just think about adding additional things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow."

The back of Eric's funeral photo card. Miss you dude.

Family photo in Chicago. You can see Eric's urn to the right.

Lolo and Ken swept Elise away for an early morning Chicago boat ride.

Chicago airshow kept our eyes on the sky

Enjoyed a Sauvie Island date with my kids shortly after returning from Florida

Sisters, Oregon. Family getaway for a few days in between saying goodbye to Eric and his celebration of life. Paul is channeling Eric's classic expression in photos.

Paul is super proud of his homemade milkshake creation. He calls it the Paulinator.

Shout out to Nate and the kids for continuing to host our annual block party in my absence.

Elise spent some good time with Grandma and her cousin Charlotte in Ann Arbor.

A special outing to a Tigers game.

Paul got to play a round of golf for the first time after getting some short game practice with Grandpa in Ann Arbor.

The night before school started, Elise in the ER getting tests run to diagnose her lower abdominal pain. She was determined to still go to school after passing a kidney stone less than 12 hours before.