When we first learned that Norah had hydrocephalus we dove into the deep end of the pool researching as much as possible about what the future would hold for Norah. Well a lot of the medical sites shared the same general information. Then I came to the Fetal Hydrocephalus website, it was exactly what we needed. Real life information put together by a mom whose son was also living with hydrocephalus. On her website other families are allow to share their stories. A wonderful thing when there is such a wide range of how hydrocephalus could affect a person. Stories and experiences were read and I continue to follow many of the blogs that gave me hope in those first gloomy weeks. That is also where I met Tyler and his family, through Tyler's Trip.
When I decide we were traveling with Jason to St. Louis I dropped Diane a note asking her if they would have time to meet us at all this week. Diane is very busy these days on top of being Tyler's mom and keeping up with his busy schedule, she works full-time, is nearing the finish of building a new house to move into and is 8 months pregnant! I thought about not saying anything because I know how busy they are but after having the chance to meet other families this summer, I just couldn't let the oppertunity pass.
On Sunday, Diane and Tyler drove 2 hours to meet us and I couldn't be more grateful. Tyler has an infectious smile that makes you instantly fall in love with him, and Diane is completely genuine. Grant, Mason and Norah welcomed Tyler right away. Grant wanted to know where Tyler's bounce house was (he remembered seeing pictures from Tyler's birthday party this summer) and Norah got right in his face showing what it is going to be like having a little sister around. Mason even chimed in at times crying, letting Tyler know what having a baby around will be like.
We headed to Tilles Park which is completely accessible. Norah was able to take her walker everywhere with her, and Tyler was right behind in his chair. Or a few times Norah bumping into them trying to start a game of bumper cars. Norah and Tyler has fun swinging, in all of the pictures I took, Norah is not taking her eyes off Tyler. I think she thought it was pretty cool to see Tyler IRL instead of just on the computer screen. She was so comfortable with her new friends when she was done swinging, she grabbed Diane's hand and they took off walking. That's OK it gave me some prime time swinging with Tyler and playing catch with his famous football.
After grabbing some lunch, Diane came back with us to the hotel. I had a couple kids that still like to nap and were in need of sleep. Jason took the kids back to the room and Diane, Tyler, Mason and I sat in the hotel lobby and talked for couple more hours. I felt so comfortable talking with Diane and sharing our experiences. I felt like I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen in a while and we were catching up.
I do have to give a shout out to my husband, Jason. Thank you for taking the reigns of the kids so Diane and I could visit with Diane as much as possible. And a big thanks to Diane's husband, Travis, for loaning you family to us for the day. I hope you got lots of work done on the house, but next time we won't let you use that excuse :)
1 comment:
Your words are so sweet. I had to chuckle again about Grant's bounce house comment. It was such a great day and I hope we get the opportunity to do it again and yes Travis will HAVE to come :)
Post a Comment