School Supplies

This post is #93 in a year-long series ... Through this series of posts I plan to share our family's experiences during our 17-year-old daughter's year-long battle with brain cancer, which began in February of 2008. My desire is to process through the events of that year from the perspective that a decade of time has brought ... for myself, really. But if you'd like to follow along, you're welcome to join me.

August 11, 2008

I've always loved school supplies. There's something about brand new, never-written-in notebooks, clean loose-leaf paper wrapped in plastic, binders with tabbed dividers, "bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils" (one of my favorite lines from "You've Got Mail"), and neat stacks of pristine pocket folders that I just like.  Every new school year is a blank slate; a fresh start.

Hannah shared my affinity for school supplies. She always wanted to shop for them as early as possible for the best selection, and the second we got home with them, she would get busy. She'd separate them all by class, then painstakingly label each item with her name, her teacher's name, the class title, etc. The loose leaf paper would go into the binders, and dividers would be put into place. Then she'd place everything in a neat stack, largest items on the bottom, smallest on the top. She would have her schedule, locker number, and combination all memorized within five minutes of receiving it. The girl just loved school!

And just like every other school year, she was ready to get started.  She would be a junior this year, and was ready to get it behind her so she could graduate (as valedictorian, of course!) and go on to Ouachita Baptist University that next fall.  Brain cancer was just a blip on the screen of her life at this point.  She had so much to look forward to!

One more thought ... As we approach the eve of back-to-school week in Arkansas, I want to share a word of encouragement to those parents whose children are marking milestones ... starting kindergarten, beginning junior high, entering their senior year of high school, or maybe going off to college for the first time.  Let me encourage you to rejoice and celebrate each of these milestones with your children.  Please don't waste precious time being sad that your children are growing up ... That is what children are supposed to do!  Those are things to celebrate, not to mourn.  Allow me to gently and lovingly encourage you to be thankful that your children are healthy with bright futures ahead of them. Take time to savor every moment and celebrate every milestone!

My email update from ten years ago tonight ...

We had our monthly visit to Children’s Hospital today for routine bloodwork and Hannah’s antibiotic breathing treatment. Hannah’s blood counts were really good…almost all counts were in the normal range, except for white blood cells and platelets, which, of course, is to be expected. Her platelet count was exactly the same as it was last week (72,000), which was really good, because we really had expected it to drop lower this week. She was scheduled to start back on her chemo medicine (Temodar) this week, but her platelets have to be at 75,000 in order to start. So…we are glad she will get to enjoy her final week of summer, but it means that she will probably have to start the Temodar next week, which is the first week of school. At the same time, she will be glad to get yet another round of treatment completed…after that, she’ll only have seven more to go.

We are so thankful that Hannah has felt really good for the majority of the summer, and we’ve been able to enjoy time with family and friends over the last few weeks. We are also glad to be getting another school year underway, and to be getting closer every day to the completion of her treatments. God has truly been gracious to us, and we are so very thankful.

God is good, all the time!

Jill and Brad