Hope for the Future

I’m driving an hour each way into the city and then it’s about three hours there. Today three of the kids had appts at the children’s hospital across town so I dropped DH off, drove another 20 minutes to the other hospital, and then went back across the city to collect DH. Now I’m waiting to get gas in the very long line at Costco.

H’s ADHD is the worst I’ve ever seen in someone. It’s actually debilitating. I don’t know how to help him. We are going to try a new med, but I’m not hopeful. We tried a therapist which actually made things worse, not better. I don’t know what else to do.

I saw this author speak a few weeks ago. I had not heard about him prior to attending the speaking event. While speaking, he mentioned he authored two books. I checked this book out from the library over the weekend, and have managed to make time for it every evening this week.

It’s a tragic foster care story. He was taken from his mother due to mental illness at age seven and plunged into the Los Angeles foster care system. Prior to that, he had lived with his loving grandmother in Chicago.

He eventually grew up (in foster care), went to law school, and sued the foster care center he spent time in while in care.

Having mortality smack you in the face as a middle age person with a lot of kids at home has got me doing a lot of processing.

I’m really struggling. The funeral was packed. At least 600 people. We live in a small, rural county and he worked for one of the local cities, so he was well known personally and professionally.

We haven’t seen each other regularly in a number of years, but he was such a present person during my formative years. His wife graciously allowed me to come to his house and see him/say goodbye one morning last week, and he ended up passing away a few hours later. He wasn’t awake while I was there, but I’m so grateful I got to hold his hand and talk to him one last time.

Animal adventures over here…

E has a dog walking job that she does three days a week. That dog owner let us take her dog home, bathe him, dry him, buzz out all of his mats, and get his nails trimmed. She didn’t want him to go any shorter with his coat, so no need for an all overall haircut. E was very patient and encouraging to the dog, and did a great job despite the challenges. I was impatient just watching from afar. I’m continually impressed with her.

On our walk to school this week, we found that three baby squirrels got blown from their nest in a big storm we’d had the night before. Only one was still alive. We scooped it up and took it home with us, and kept it warm until we were able to drop it off at the local wildlife hospital. They said he’ll make it.

H has been feeling pretty low lately. I think he’s depressed. He desperately wants to fit in and also feel like he doesn’t. He is such an incredible kid! I’m super concerned due to DH’s history of depression.

Idk if this is the right move or not, but in conjunction with other steps to help him out, we volunteered to take on a litter of foster kittens. We got them yesterday. I was praying that the shelter would call with a bunch that would work for us and us for them.

They arrived yesterday. Five. All girls except for one boy. So far we have Hank, Midnight, Mittens, and Shadow. We need one more name. H is in charge when historically it has been E at the helm with these things. I’m hoping taking care of something will help him feel capable and responsible and also good about himself. You may think this is the wrong move and you may be correct. Time will tell.

I’m also having a lot of difficulty getting him to write, so I’m hoping this will help with that too as I told him he can create a book about caring for foster kittens as part of a 4H project.

We have had an amazing spring break! We have gone to Florida every year for break since NB was born, but DH and I have different breaks this year, and I couldn’t do the drive to Fl on my own because we go straight through, and it was just going to be too long.

Instead, I pulled the kids out of school last week to get a jump on the drive, and took them to Kansas City. We met up with my former office partner from when I worked in MN. I hadn’t seen her in years. We got some famous barbecue for dinner and then stayed at a hotel before heading out the next morning for Texas.

We stayed in Granbury to spend time with a friend I’ve had since traveling to Romania in 2001. She has two boys and lives in acres of property. We had such a wonderful time being together. Kids played laser tag every night. E and one of the other kids played an involved Harry Potter board game and loved it. Just nice to be with people who are able to let us be ourselves.

On Wednesday, we drove about 1.5 hours to Highland Village to where my cousins and aunt and uncle live. My cousin recently bought a property that is incredible! They have farm animals, a pool, and are going to AirBnb the house. We stayed there and it was pretty impressive.

DH flew to Dallas after getting off of work on Wednesday. We are on the drive home. He had one day in the sun at the pool, and then last night we detoured slightly into Arkansas to see another cousin and meet her baby that was born last summer. The baby was adorable, and it was fun to see my cousin and her spouse.

I rage baked to take food to MN this weekend to visit my bestie, and now we are not going due to the winter storm. I made 1/4 sheets of brownies and cookie bars, a double batch of puppy chow, two cakes, and a dozen cupcakes.