An Unexpected and Moving Gift

I have been a sleep technologist since 2013. In all those years, I have never been so moved by a patient’s kind gesture – until yesterday. I walked into the tech room and found a tall green gift bag on the counter, It had a sticky note on it that read, “Keith – from your patient from last night.”

I admit I was confused. Why would a patient who lived some miles away drive all the way back to our lab to drop off something for me?

Now let me enlighten you to the events of that evening. I only had one patient, a four year old girl. Any child who is under five is usually a one on one patient. Depending on the child, they can really be a handful.

When I went to get my patient from the waiting room, I could tell she was a bit anxious. As we walked to her room, I tried to put her at ease by telling her that she’d be getting a lot of stickers put on her and a rainbow pony tail (the EEG wires are multicolored). When she entered the room, she put her Bluey blanket on the bed with her teddy bear.

I stepped out while her mom did the paperwork and when it looked like they were ready, I went in to begin hooking her up for the study. As I always do, I got down on my knees and pinky promised that there would be “no hurts or shots” tonight. I showed her the wires and let her touch them to see that they didn’t hurt. I let her touch the cleaner, the past, and tape that I would be using. This is so helpful in getting them on your side.

She had Bluey pajamas on and as I put the equipment on I asked her about the cartoon. Who was her favorite character? I would tell her who mine was. I asked if she was ready for Christmas, she nodded. I told her that she was exactly one day older than my son, which made her smile. It was simple conversation – no different than I would do for any other pediatric patient.

There are a couple pieces of equipment that all kids hate. There is a cannula that goes in the nose and a sticker that sits under the nose. They both are there to monitor breathing. It took a bit of sweet talking, but she did allow me to put them on after a bit. Once she was hooked up, I plugged everything in and left the room to let her sleep.

When I went to wake her up in the morning, I dabbed all the tape with adhesive remover so the tape would not hurt when I pulled it off. I then got the rest of the equipment off her, gave her mom a towel and washcloth to help clean her up before she left.

Her mom thanked me for making the study less stressful for her daughter. I told her I was glad to do it. I handed my patient some Bluey stickers and explained follow up stuff before wishing them Happy Holidays and safe travels back home. They had left the building by the time I went back to the room to see if they needed anything.

Now this is a pretty normal night for me. I didn’t feel as though I did anything different than I would for someone else. So to see this bag when I walked in really had me wondering what it was all about.

When I looked inside the bag, there were a couple metal cars and a couple small monster trucks. This confused me more. It was then that I noticed the card inside.

“I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for the exceptional care and kindness you showed my daughter during her sleep study. From the very beginning you went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable, safe and supported. As a parent it is incredibly meaningful to see someone treat your child with such genuine compassion. It is clear that you are truly in the right field. Please accept this small token of appreciation for your and your son as a thank you from our hearts.”

I cannot even begin to tell you how this wonderful note took my breath away. It brought tears to my eyes as I read these words of thanks and praise. I’m not sure why it hit me the way it did. As I said, I don’t think I did anything different than I would for someone else. I was simply doing my job.

I guess you don’t really know the impact that you make on a person. I am so glad to have made the night an easy one for them. I am happy to know that I passed along a smile to such a sweet and kind family. I plan on sitting down and writing a thank you card/letter to send their way. I hope that I can find the right words to express my gratitude and explain just how much their words meant to me.

In a world that is filled with hatred, despair, and anger, it warms my heart to know that there are still people in this world that make it a better place with love and kindness.

“You’ve Got Mail!”

You may remember me mentioning my kids painting with colored ice recently. I was surprised this week when a “postcard” arrived for me.

He had a bit of help from mommy, but his message warmed my heart.

He calls me “Big Fella” all the time now. The kids on Bluey called their dad that once and it has stuck with him. I started calling him “Little Fella” now, which makes him laugh.

One morning he had crawled into bed next to me and said, “Time to get up, Daddio!” That had me cracking up! All of a sudden he’s a 50’s hipster!

Now, to be clear – I’m not necessarily sharing my tools. Recently I went out to the garage looking for a pair of pliers and they were gone. They were in HIS tool box. Also in his tool box was a hammer, my crescent wrench, about 6 screwdrivers and my box of drill bits!

So if you wanna call that “sharing” …..

Brief Life Update

This week, while it has been nice to have some new features to post here, I feel like I haven’t really told you what’s been up our way. It’s been a pretty busy week or so.

I had the chance to spend the day with my daughter this week. We went to lunch at McDonald’s (her choice). We went to one of the big public libraries that we had never been to before. They had all kinds of cool things for the kids to play with there. I could hardly get her to leave so we could go to the Children’s Museum.

At the Children’s museum, we did our normal stuff: the big water table, the indoor treehouse, played on the indoor ambulance, and went down the big slide. We took a detour and walked through another part of the museum which has old cars, old uniforms, an army tank, and other neat stuff. She was really fascinated by the cars, an old sled, and the old logging stuff.

We had a couple nice days where we got to sit outside and play. Both kids were excited to get on their scooters.

Daisy was loving playing fetch with her ball. I swear, she could play this all day. The school kids who play ball on the baseball diamond behind our house must have fouled a couple into our yard, because Daisy was chewing the cover off a couple of them.

She eats everything! Sam made the mistake of leaving one of the canvas laundry bags that hangs on our hamper on top of Daisy’s cage while we were gone the other day. We came home and that dog pulled the whole thing (including the metal rods) into her cage and chewed/ate it! Urgh!

It was actually nice enough last weekend that I was able to mow the grass for the first time. I am overdue to change the oil on my riding mower, so I hope to be able to do that before the next mow. It’s probably a guy thing, but I love the look of a fresh mowed lawn (even if there are spots because of the moles!).

The kids and I got to sit down and watch the new Bluey episodes. There were three of them – the third one being a “bonus” that no one said anything about. This little cartoon is something that I absolutely love. The extended 28 minute episode was to be the Season 3 finale and it was just amazing. It was so well done.

My buddy from work has a little girl and I was asking him how she was doing. He was talking about how they watched the new Bluey together and before we knew it, there we were – two grown men – talking about how great the show is. We joked and said that the show is an adult cartoon that kids can watch, too. It isn’t odd for my wife and I also find ourselves talking about the show.

The biggest thing from this week is that we took Andrew in to get more genetic testing. He is still having some issues and they wanted to dig a bit deeper. They are thinking there is a possibility of Muscular Dystrophy. Nothing is 100% yet, and we are certainly praying about it. We’re hoping that the results will help give us a few more answers and some direction.

I guess that brings you up to speed. Thanks for reading.

Cartoon Moment and The Life Lesson

One of the first things I do when I get up is look back at Facebook Memories. I didn’t need it to know that today is the birth anniversary of my high school band director, my mentor, and friend Tom Shaner.

He passed away before Christmas in 2020. I wrote an emotional blog about him here:

I’m Gonna Miss You, “Sir”

The memory that came up with a montage of photos read:

Remembering one of the best on his birthday. He was probably one of the most important role models, mentors, and friends I have ever had. What a blessing it was to remain friends long after high school. I miss our telephone chats and email exchanges. Every time I hear a bad pun or long joke with a bad punch line, I always think, “TS would have loved this joke!” Whenever I see an old Far Side cartoon, I wonder if it might have been one that he ripped off his wall calendar and put in my mailbox while at school. There are so many wonderful memories of our friendship. I miss him a lot. Happy heavenly birthday, Tom.

I shared the memory again, along with the picture montage. I used to call him on his birthday every year. I’d always ask how old he was and he would always swap numbers. If he was 75, he’d tell me he was 57. I always enjoyed our chats.

Shortly after I posted the memory, the kids and I were sitting out in the living room and Bluey was on Disney Plus. One of my favorite episodes was on – Camping.

In the episode they are camping and Bluey meets a friend. They play together for a few days and have loads of fun, despite a language barrier (Jean Luc is French). They pretend that Bluey’s dad is a wild pig and they plan to catch it (you’ll see why I mention that shortly). One morning Bluey goes to find Jean Luc to play, but he and his family have gone home. Bluey goes around to all the various places they played at to look for him, but she cannot find him. When her mom (Chilli) tells her she saw them leave, she is sad to hear that they have gone.

She asks her mom why he had to go. The following exchange occurs:

Bluey : Why did Jean-Luc had to go?

Chilli : Their holiday was over, Honey.

Bluey : But I want to keep playing with him! He was my friend!

Chilli : Well look sometimes special people come into our lives, stay for a bit. Then they have to go.

Bluey : But that’s sad!

Chilli : It is! But the bit where they were here was happy, wasn’t it?

Bluey : Yea, we caught a wild pig together!

Chilli : Maybe that makes it all worth it?

Bluey : Will I ever see him again?

Chilli : Well, we’ll never know. The world is magical place!

This above exchange took on a whole new meaning when I thought of my friend.

Chilli : Well look sometimes special people come into our lives, stay for a bit. Then they have to go.

Bluey : But that’s sad!

Chilli : It is! But the bit where they were here was happy, wasn’t it?

I asked myself that question. Yes, the bit when he was here certainly was happy. It was certainly a time of music, laughter, fun, and friendship.

It’s funny how a cartoon exchange can offer a simple life lesson – one very much like the life lessons Tom shared with so many of us.

While we might be sad that some loved ones are no longer with us, may we always remember the happy bit of time we shared with them.

Jotting Down Some Randomness

The past week has been one of change and challenges for me. I am usually not lacking things I want to write about, but the past few days have been … well, busy. I’ve jotted little random thoughts in my “possible blog” notebook but none of them really warrants a full blown blog. So I decided to throw many of them all together for you. Consider it a Blogging Smorgasbord.

(Mental note: Use Smorgasbord in a sentence today. Check!)

Afternoon Adjustment

One of the biggest changes for me has been the switch from midnights to afternoons. Things have been very busy at work and I know that there are a lot of things that I still need to learn. However, I’ve sort of settled in and have taken care of reviewing patient charts, scoring records, helping techs with hook ups and whatever else is needed.

It’s weird to see the “day people.” We see their names in e-mails and on orders, but to actually see them … it’s just weird. There is a small window of time between when the day folks leave and the night folks come in where the building is strangely quiet. It’s almost too quiet. I have had to make sure that I turn some music on in order for me not to get distracted by the silence.

My entire eating schedule is out of whack, too. I’m used to lunch at 11pm and dinner at 3:30am. Now, I am eating on what you would call a “normal” schedule. I also have to deal with the never ending supply of sweets and snacks from the day staff. It seems that there are always some kind of goodies on the break room table.

The best part has been being able to crawl into bed and hold my wife at night (when one of the kids isn’t in our bed!). In just one week, I feel like we have talked more like when we first got married. Both of us are rested, get up and have coffee together, and have breakfast and lunch as a family. It really is wonderful.

Date Night

Sam and I have a date night coming up this weekend. If there is ever any question as to whether I love her or not, this should prove that the answer is a resounding YES. Look, I’ve seen a few episodes of the Golden Girls here and there. Sophia reminds me of my Italian grandma. However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see a “Golden Girls” stage show – unless my wife wanted to see it. She does and we are.

I don’t know much about the show. The Golden Girls – The Laughs Continue. I heard it is a bit “raunchier” than the actual show. My co-worker saw it tonight and said it was good. He promised to not give away any spoilers. He took his wife.

We were talking about how some people really got into it and were dressing up to go to shows like this. My wife has informed me that she has something for us to wear to the show. If I wind up in a wig and a dress, I will be sure to share pictures.

Did You Ever ….

This doesn’t happen often, but have you ever started a book with the impression that it was going to be good only to find it slow and not what you expected? I am listening to an audiobook that I borrowed based solely on the title. The unabridged audio book is just over 11 hours. I am three hours in and I am just now feeling like it might be starting to get interesting, but I’m not sure. I debated whether or not to just stop listening.

I suppose it is my fault. I usually read the synopsis before deciding on reading a book. I never did for this one. Prior to blogging, I read the synopsis and afterward asked myself, “If I had read this before adding it to my ‘to read’ list, would I have actually wanted to read it?” I’m guessing not. I will probably listen a little longer just to see what, if anything, happens. At some point, though, I need to decide whether I want to finish it or not.

I Don’t Get the Hype

Someone posted the above on Facebook and I had to steal it. I truly don’t know how to take the hype surrounding the Barbie movie. My first thought is that Hollywood’s creativity is at an all time low and this was the result of someone scraping the bottom of the barrel for a movie idea. “Oooooo! I know! Let’s make a movie about Barbie and the various versions of dolls!” How does this idea even make it up the flagpole!?

Sam actually wondered if it would be something that Ella might like. Most people who did see it said it was probably not something to take kids to. It seems that this movie is made for adults who used to play with Barbie dolls or something. Urgh.

This leads to my second thought – adults are actually willing to pay big ticket prices to actually watch this in a theater. THIS is what the general public sees as “entertainment.” At what point do they just throw together two hours of 2 to 3 minute Tik Tok or Snapchat videos and market it as a “major motion picture?!” Sure, you can watch that crap on your phone, but if they did put it in theaters, you can bet that people would flock to see it. Next thing you know, some idiot Tik Tok “star” will get an Academy Award!

It has been a LONG time since there has been a movie that has come out that I would actually want to pay to see. I’ve been fascinated by the story of Hiroshima, so the Oppenheimer movie might be something I’d go see, but the reviews are mixed. I will probably do what I usually do – wait to stream it or rent it.

New Bluey? Yes, I Will Watch!

My wife says to me today: “Have you watched the new Bluey episodes yet?”

I shout back, “What?! Are they one Disney + already? I didn’t think they were airing in the US yet!”

Yes. There are new episodes. Yes. I will watch them by myself.

I learned a long time ago that it is totally ok for an adult to watch cartoons without kids. It keeps me young!

Another year passes …

Today I finished my 53rd trip around the sun. Birthdays stopped being special to me a long time ago. They are just another day. However, I will tell you that today was a birthday I won’t soon forget. Let me tell you why …

Ella has been talking about my birthday for months. She’s known that mine was coming up and eventually the “next” one. So she told Sam that she was going to get all the stuff for my “party.”

So her and Sam went to the store to order my cake. She told the woman that she was positive that I loved princesses, so this was the cake they brought home:

Ella sang Happy Birthday loud and proud and both kids helped me blow out my candles.

Yes, I did wear the tiara and hold the scepter after cutting the cake.

Sam and the kids got me the coolest card and a book I have had on my Amazon wishlist for some time. Once I get through the library books I have, I will be diving into this one.

They also got me an amazing shirt. The card and shirt go together as they are both from Bluey, the cartoon I just love! Perhaps mom was trying for a Bluey theme, but the princess won out!

We even had princess plates!!

If you are wondering about the tiara and scepter – don’t worry, there is a princess at our house making good use of them!

I also heard from my dad first thing this morning. He got a chuckle out of my cake. My oldest son called me this morning too. My middle son texted on his way home from the bus stop to send birthday wishes. There were countless text messages and birthday wishes on Facebook, too.

As much as I hate counting the years (and still claim to be 39 every year like Jack Benny) it is nice to know that so many folks will take a brief moment out of their day to send a birthday greeting. It’s almost overwhelming, but it is a reminder of just how blessed I am.

Morning Miscellaneous

The anecdotes in the blog today are a hodge podge of things that really wouldn’t work as a complete blog, so I thought I would just throw them together here in one. Please forgive the randomness …

Missed Milestone

Somewhere over the last couple weeks, I neglected to mark a milestone. I would have never guessed that I would post over 900 blogs when I started this site, but I have! Many of you have been here from the start and I thank you for reading. Thank you for reading about everything from diaper changes to my favorite movies and music. Thank you for listening to my many rants. Thank you for supporting the many changes my life has gone through and for your wonderful encouragement.

Maybe I have enough written to compile that book I have been meaning to write?

No More High Chair

Andrew has officially outgrown the high chair. I admit, it was nice to be able to put him in there and know that he would stay in one spot while he ate, however, it was time. So Sam and I brought out Ella’s table and now they can eat together. The above picture is in the middle of the living room temporarily while we rearranged the room.

We Got a Tonie

A funny thing happened this week. My wife was telling me, “I think I wanna get one of those Tonie Boxes.” I had no idea what she was talking about. She told me that it was like an Alexa for kids. You place this “Tonie” on the top and it reads books or plays stories. I had no idea what it looked like, but I pictured a small speaker with like a flash drive on it or something.

That same day – not 2 hours later – a box was out on the porch. My friend Margaret had sent the kids a birthday/Christmas present. I opened the box and I saw what looked like a package you might find a set of books in. Nope, it was a Tonie! My wife and I looked at each other in disbelief.

When I called Margaret so the kids could say thank you, I told her the story of our conversation and the arrival of her box. She couldn’t believe it. She told me that she saw it while walking through Meijer. She had no idea if the kids would even like it, and made sure to include the gift receipt in case we wanted to take it back. She included a few extra Tonie characters in the box and they kids love it!!

There are many Tonie characters you can get that tell stories and play music. You can even create your own content. If you have a little one, it is worth it!

Family Comedian

My daughter, Ella, is a constant source of laughter. Many times that comes at my expense. The following conversation took place this week:

Ella (with a hairbrush): Daddy, can I brush your hair?

Me: Baby, I don’t have any hair to brush

Ella: Yes you do!

I posted this picture on my Facebook and a friend commented, “Throw that brush away! She doesn’t want to catch the BALD!”

Parental Funny

I saw this posted on one of the Instagram pages I follow and got a good chuckle. ALL parents can relate to this!

Have a great weekend!

Flatpack Wisdom

One blog that I follow belongs to a friend in Scotland. She’s a poet named Britta. She has fascinating backstory and through her blog I have come to know a bit about her.

You can read her blog here:

https://brittasblog422041504.wordpress.com

In a recent blog, she mentioned that her son had purchased a desk/chair set from IKEA. She described the various bumps and noises that she heard from her son’s bedroom as he put it together.

We bought something for Ella from there and I recalled the challenge of trying to put it together while looking at the “directions” or lack thereof! It was certainly a challenge.

There is an episode of Bluey called Flat pack that comes to mind. The dad andom have purchased a porch swing and they are trying to put it together while following the “instructions.”

Anyway, I say all of that to get to the nugget of wisdom that came about while commenting back and forth with Britta. I mentioned that there are plenty of jokes about IKEA’s lack of real instructions and stated that it is kind of like life. “

“Life is kind of like an IKEA flat pack. It doesn’t come with any real instructions,” I told her. She agreed and reworded my sentiment. “Life. The flat pack without instructions!”

We’re all just trying to get through without no real directions, so grab your Allen wrench and tackle life day by day!

Relating to Cartoon Dogs

“Oh boy. Here goes Keith talking about that Bluey show again. Isn’t that a kid show? Why does he watch that?”

I relate to it! There, I said it. There are so many things about this show that I can relate to! For example, in our house, Sam and I cannot use the bathroom without one or both of the kids being in there with us. Bandit, Bluey’s dad, deals with that …

All he wants to do is poop for crying out loud! Look at that poor dog!

Another example which hold true in our house – the short amount of time it takes to go from clean to disaster.

I swear this just happened to me yesterday! The kids have this bowl of fake fruit and veggies that they play with. They keep all of it in a plastic Tupperware bowl. I literally walked all over the loving room picking up fake cucumbers, broccoli, onions, apples, bananas, avocadoes, tomatoes and more! I put them all back in the bowl and put them in the door of the fake kitchen. I went and got a cup of coffee and returned to the living room to find all of the contents of the bowl on the floor again!

The kids had Disney on the other morning and they were playing the episode called “Dunny.” In Australia, where Bluey lives, “dunny” is a slang term for toilet. The episode takes place in the parents bedroom. The kids are hanging out in bed with their parents and discussing why “dunny” isn’t an appropriate word for toilet.

This episode led to me thinking back to my childhood and I remember many Saturday mornings getting up and going into my folks bedroom. Many times we’d crawl into bed and just goof off. I truly wish I had more photos of those times. I have a few. First, one of my favorite photos of my mom and I (forgive me if I have posted these before).

I remember going in and waking her up. She’d always snuggle us and read books we brought in there. Those Saturday mornings were always so much fun.

My dad used to get in bed with us and wrestle with us. Sometimes he’d pretend to be Moe from the Three Stooges. There would be a “bear” we had to hide from and we’d get under the covers and hide. Sometimes he’d say he’d go check to see if the bear was still there and we’d be under the covers and he’d growl and grab at us from the top of the covers. We had so much fun when he did that!

Just the other morning, Ella and Andrew woke up and it was them, Sam and me in our bed. It was just a lot of silliness and me wrestling or tickling them and hiding under the covers.

I’m not sure what it is about being under covers that is cool. We built a fort with blankets and such the other day and they loved it. Then I started sitting on the floor and covering myself in a blanket and they’d come over and get under the “tent” with me. Sam even got into the fun the other morning!

So yeah, I watch Bluey. I relate to it more than any cartoon or kid’s show before it. The more I see an episode, the more I find myself saying, “I need to do that” or “I’ve done that!”

If you have toddlers, you have to check it out. If you’re an adult, you should to. In my opinion, it is the best.

One final example? Sure. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone into the kid’s rooms after they fall asleep and just watch them. It’s not weird – only parents get it.

Thanksgiving 2022 Recap

The holiday weekend is winding down and I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was a good day filled with great food and family.

The day started with a quick game of hide and seek.

We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The kids loved seeing Josh from Blue’s Clues and Bluey in the parade!

After breakfast, we prepared the deviled eggs to bring. Sam said she didn’t have paprika. She chuckled when I told her I never liked when my mom put it on the deviled eggs! Then we all started to get ready to go to Sam’s mom’s for dinner.

The loss of my sister-in-law, Grace, is still very fresh. It helped to have family together. There was a lot of love and great conversation throughout the day.

We had an amazing dinner, prepared by my mother-in-law: turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and so much more. There was no shortage of desserts either!

The Detroit Lions actually gave us a good game to watch, despite losing in the last 23 seconds. It would have been nice to see them win their fourth in a row.

I got to finally meet my newest niece, Arabella. She is a little cutie! She’s only a few months old, but she’s almost as big as Andrew!

I dropped the ball this year and didn’t really take many pictures. My sister in law snapped a candid of the family as we were leaving which I just love.

I love it because it is typical chaos. It looks like Sam is asking me something and I am oblivious. Ella is waving and Andrew is like, “can we just go home now?”

We came home and relaxed the rest of the night, just enjoying family time.

As I turned off the lights and headed off to bed, I reflected again o just how thankful I am for my wonderful family.