From the mouth of Matt . . .

All his life I've been telling my beautiful baby boy that when he turns sixteen or he gets his license - whichever comes last! - he can start to date.  So the other night at supper, after passing his driving test, he said, "I guess I better go get a girlfriend!" 

Then he said, "NOT!" 

Ravette

Re-blogged from Catherine Murphy . . .

“We came to Africa for the work, we stayed for the people.”

 
Ravette is a 9-year-old orthopedics patient who always has a smile on her face. Always.

When Ravette was little she suffered from a leg deformity caused by quinine, a drug used to treat malaria. When the medicine was mistakenly injected into her nerve instead of the muscle, it caused her knees to grow in the wrong direction. Ravette is still in casts, but she’s learning to walk again.

This morning Ravette hobbled to my office. To get here from the hospital, you have to walk through a common area we call the café. It’s unusual to have patients walk through this part of the ship, so she quickly snagged everyone’s attention. That’s when the clapping started. Each table she walked past gave a little cheer. I’ve never seen a child with a smile as big as hers was today.

If she had been at our table tonight, Ravette would have said she was thankful to walk again. Then she would have giggled as she listened to 16 people go around and say what they were thankful for.

Because they were all thankful for Ravette.

FAMILY!

In this time of Thanksgiving, 

we are thankful for family -

and we have more family than most!

This would be Matt and his three sisters!

We spent last Sunday at their birth mom's house.

We got to see Allison, her two daughters, her dad and his wife.

It was good.

This past Sunday,

Sam's cousin and his wife and their son were over.

It was such a good time and so much fun -

and the Vikings didn't even lose!

This coming Thursday

(the official Thanksgiving Day)

we'll be in Iowa at my Dad's.

He'll be 82 on his next birthday -

and he's cooking dinner!

Finished Products . . .

Here's a photo of the fired ceramics from Micah's 14th birthday party:

Mine is the snowflake plate!

The Vernel Effect

By Catherine Murphy

Vernel is too cute to be angry with and now he knows it.

Vernel is a wily 6-year-old patient who is probably up to something that he’ll get away with. Why will he get away with it? Because it’s too hard to stay mad at him. When he looks up at you, with his lovable, mischievous, grin, he mesmerizes you with his sweetness and your only conscious thought is about how darling he is. Were you about to reprimand him? You can’t remember.

I call this The Vernel Effect.

Vernel’s story began in a fishing village eight hours from Congo’s port city of Pointe Noire. The cleft on the right side of his upper lip revealed his pink gums and front teeth as it stretched up to his nose. Vernel has been bullied for looking different, his dad says. The other children in their village teased him to the point he would come home crying. This baffles me…who could possibly have the heart to make Vernel cry?

I met Vernel when his father brought him to the Africa Mercy for surgery. In an environment where cleft lips are embraced, I watched Vernel quickly come into his own. He never had to worry about being teased here; the staff doted on Vernel from the moment he stepped into the Admissions Tent. We made him balloons, we let him play with the Djembe drums, and we discovered that he is a total clown in front of the camera. On this ship in Africa, Vernel finally found his audience: 350 people who see beyond his deformity. By the time surgeons repaired Vernel’s cleft lip, he’d forgotten he had it.



But there is one thing you can’t let yourself forget about Vernel: he is a ninja when it comes to tickling.

That mischievous smile on Vernel’s face is there for a reason. First, he will curl up in your arms or give you a hug or a drooly kiss. Then, in accordance with The Vernel Effect, you will let your guard down. And that’s when he’ll strike. Think you’re not ticklish? Think again. Vernel has no mercy – especially if you have recently tickled him. This is a 6-year-old with an appetite for vengeance.

This is my friend Hope. She didn’t stand a chance.

Sadly, Vernel couldn’t stay here forever. I was part of a team that drove him home. Today, Vernel is doing great and, might I add, looking quite handsome. 

When it was time for Vernel to be discharged, he called his grandmother to tell her he was coming home. “I’m a handsome boy now,” he said. 

  
I loved watching this little boy realize his charm. I know Vernel won’t be the last patient to undergo a transformation here.

Don’t fall for it.

The End.

Giggles and Whispers

Yesterday while I was teaching swimming at the Y, my sweet little three- and four- year-old Pikes (it was an all girl class) were giggling and whispering to one another - and then they started pointing.  There was a man at the other end of the pool and he was (giggle! giggle! whisper! whisper!) wearing EAR MUFFS!  In the pool!  (giggle! giggle! whisper! whisper!)  I think I about broke their little hearts when I told them, those weren't ear muffs.  He had on a head set.

Test Day!

Today was test day - the day we've been waiting almost three long months for - or at least, Matt has!  This was the day he was to re-take his driving test in order to get his permanent driver's license.  And wouldn't you know . . . 

As he was brushing his teeth before school this morning, his top retainer wire popped off.  I called the ortho office and yes, they could get him in at 12:30 - would that work?  The original plan was for me to pick him up at school at 12:10, for us to go out for lunch and then for us to be at the driver's examination station in time his driving test at 1:40.  So if we skipped lunch, we could go to the ortho . . .

Cathy was quick, she got Matt in and out in twenty minutes, he got a bowl of chili from Culver's and we were off to Eagan.  We got there plenty early, waited for the three cars in front of us and then it was Matt's turn.

I had barely sat down in the waiting room when Matt came in.  It turns out that the insurance card in the car we had borrowed from a friend had expired and Matt was not allowed to take the test without proof of current insurance.  If we could fix that in two hours, we could still take the test today.

Since we had two whole hours and I have a cold which has left me voiceless, we decided to drive over to our friend's place of work.  She was so excited when we got there - "Did he pass?"  Well, not exactly.  We went back to her office, she pulled out two other proof of insurance cards and they were expired, too.  She called her insurance office and they faxed over her proof of insurance to the examination station.  In fact . . .

Her proof of insurance had gotten there before we did!  Unfortunately, it was now after 3:00 and the lines were long, extremely long!  Fortunately, one of the staff started at the back of the line, making sure everyone was in the right line.  Fortunately, we were next to the end of the line and when we said had had proof of insurance faxed over, he found it and moved us up to the front of the line.

So now we went back outside, back to the exam registration booth and got back in line.  We were next!  The gentleman (Mr. Bill!) who came to give Matt his test said to me, "Sir, you can go wait in waiting room now."  And I couldn't stop myself - "I'm a ma'am!"  After an apology - my hair was longer than his! - they were off!  And just a few minutes later . . .

Matt was back to get his license photo taken!  To God be the glory!