Happy Mother's Day ...

Thank you, mom, for taking care of me day and night. For holding me and rocking me back to sleep at 3 o'clock in the morning when I'm woken by some stranger taking my blood pressure. Thank you for sleeping with me in my (very narrow) hospital bed even though it means you can’t roll over or you’ll get tangled in my IV lines. And thank you for learning very early on how to silence the IV pump machine when it beeps, usually just as soon as I’ve dozed off to sleep. Thank you for remembering all my medications and making sure I get just the right dose at just the right time of day, and for turning it into a game or a race so it somehow feels fun, like when you fill a syringe with water so we can take our medicine together and I can feel like I am not the only one. Thank you, mom, for always (or at least, often) packing the right lunch and snacks and my ipod touch to keep me fed and entertained through hour after hour and day after day at the cancer clinic. Thank you for never failing to take my temperature even when  you've just crawled into your warm cozy bed but think I felt a little warm when you kissed me goodnight. And speaking of that bed, thank you for scooting over so I can squeeze in between you, dad and the dogs when I feel scared in the night and have bad dreams. Thank you for being so supportive when I am on steroids and stocking the fridge with cheese slices, and making fried egg sandwiches with me at 2am because I get those cravings.  Thank you for treating me like a regular kid and letting me climb at the park and fall down and get hurt even when my platelets are low and my legs are already covered with bruises. Thank you for not letting me get away with everything just because I’m sick and for laying the foundation for my future because you fully expect me to have one.


....love Aly xoxo