Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Back Home

Elle is back home after her latest round of chemo. She handled it pretty well, although this time the cyclophosphamide did make her throw up once or twice. But she powered through it and came home yesterday afternoon.


So while her and her brother were downstairs, The Empire Strikes Back came on television. Now, Davey is into this already. To the point where he wants to be Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween. So he's excited to see it. Meanwhile, Elle is crying and yelling "I DON'T WANT THIS!! I DON'T WANT THIS!!"


...five minutes pass...


"Daddy, why does the monster want to eat that guy?"


And with that, Elle was hooked. She wanted to know who everyone was and what they did. Did they live on planets or in their ships? Who is Darth Vader and why is he dressed all in black? Why are they fighting with laser swords? Why does the Empire want to kill them? Did you see the Princess shoot that guy? And did you know that DARF VADER IS LUKE'S DAD??!!


I thought I would get Davey to share my geek love of Star Wars. How thrilled am I to get both kids? Can't even put it into words...


This morning she woke me up with my old VHS set of the first three movies in her hands. "I want to watch these" she said. And so when I left for work Elle and Davey were watching the original film, with Elle firing rapid-fire questions about the movie to Beth. Beth, who isn't as much of a fan of the series, gave me what I hope was a mock glare as I left. (It really was. :) )


Speaking of...I want to take a second here to talk about Beth. She has a very hard job that goes pretty much unseen. She is the one that takes Elle to the hospital every time she has in-patient chemo. She stays in that room with Elle 24-7, barely gets a bite to eat (b/c of a gluten allergy...hospitals don't have a lot of gluten-free food), sleeps on an uncomfortable couch, breathes recycled air that plays hell with her asthma and is physically and mentally exhausted when it is all said and done.


We can mitigate the food issue somewhat by bringing food in from the supermarket, but the rest of it...Beth hunkers down like a champ and just does it. Every. Single. Time. It's awe-inspiring to watch sometimes. She'd never say it herself, but Beth sets the gold-standard for mothers in my book. I'm lucky beyond belief to have her as my wife, and the kids are just as lucky to have her as their mother. I say all the time that Elle is "tough as nails". She gets that from her mom.

5 comments:

Jim said...

Lucky? You are BLESSED! :-)

Anonymous said...

"tough as nails" is one of the best compliments a mom, especially one like Beth who has to endure all those hospital stays and what not, PLUS who is a stay at home mom to boot, can ever receive! Glad all is going pretty well for Elle and the rest of you :)

Kris said...

David, do you remember playing star wars for hours in your room when we were little. I was Lea and you were everyone else. And the trash compactor? Maya too is into these movies like no other. And as for Beth, I hope you weren't prompted into saying all such nice thing (though all very true) because you are in trouble for something you've done.....just kidding. I love Beth, and her grit is just one of the many reasons why I love her like my own sister.

Dave said...

No kiddo, I said them simply because they're true. When I am in trouble, it sounds much more desperate. :)

I remember playing those games! I wish we had kept that stuff... I told Elle that Maya likes the movies as well and her eyes lit up. :)

Kris said...

Remember those little foam pieces that were supposed to be the "trash", and the green serpentine monster. And I think the whole thing was supposed to be the inside of the Death Star, with elevators and catwalks.

I'm going to try to come out with Maya sometime after Labor Day (unless you guys are coming down here). They can watch a Star Wars Marathon!