a brief hiatus ...

as sister epperson mentioned last week, i have temporarily left the philippines and my duties there to be with my daughter, lauren, and her beautiful family in norway while she begins her recovery from a huge medical scare.  on her 34th birthday she suffered a cerebellar stroke.  as far as strokes go, cerebellar ones are somewhat rare and the fact that she is under 60, makes it even more so.  when i received the phone call, all i wanted was to run to her side.  after taking care of as many end-of-the-month financial duties as i possibly could, i hopped on a plane and made my way to norway.  lauren was in the hospital for just over a week while they ran multiple tests and evaluated her.  what she shared with me about her condition on the phone before she knew i was coming was a little rosier picture than she shared once she knew i was on my way (more tears throughout the brain, temporary blindness, etc).  however, i am so happy to report that the prognosis for a complete recovery was given!  she has amazed the doctors with her rapid recovery and lack of significant language and vision issues.  she will have to make some changes, of course ... removing some things from her overcrowded calendar and slowing the pace of her everyday life.  she will add physical therapy to her schedule to help with the balance issue but the doctors assure her there should be very few, if any, long-term physical effects.  the lifestyle changes need to be permanent though.  she is a type-A superwoman who is busier than just about anyone i know, who excels at anything she commits to, including job, friends, masters program, community, but most importantly, family.  some may call her lucky; i choose to believe she and her young family have been blessed beyond belief.

daughter extraordinaire

madeleine is one of the world's greatest huggers! just what i needed after 24 hours of travel!

madeleine and stella

grocery sack races and lego building with besta the babysitter! 

this trip is all about helping her, her amazing husband, christian, and the two most adorable granddaughters any besta could hope for get through this time of healing and adjustment.  it has done my heart good to be here, to see that all will be well with them.  

sometimes a mom just needs to be with her children.