These past several weeks have been so full of celebrations,
traditions, friends and good times that there’s been no time to sit and even
reflect on all our blessings.
Kory turned 69 before Thanksgiving, which means I now have
less than a year to plan an appropriate 70th birthday party for
him. When Kaleb was born, Kory did the
math and started joking right away that when Kaleb grows up and turns 15 and
needs to learn to drive, he’ll be “an old man trying to teach him.” I guess when you are 55, looking out toward
70, it seems old, but now that he’s almost there, he just laughs and wonders
why he ever thought 70 was so old because he sure doesn’t feel it. Thank God for that. (Photo below is of Kaleb teaching Kory about Facebook and email - which is all he wanted for his birthday....)
Kory had his one year post-stent check up with the
cardiologist a few weeks ago.
Thankfully, he is now off blood thinners and his numbers all look
good. His total cholesterol is 128 but
his HDL had dropped so the doc told him he needs to raise it. He told him he should take fish oil, as that
will help raise the HDL, so Kory asked if he could have some “fish with that
oil,” as he’s so tired of being fat free and vegan. I tend to have a big say over all things
concerning his health, so I told him if he starts exercising, he might get
treated every now and then with a bit of salmon. That got him going. He’s been doing five miles on the elliptical
several times a week, so hallelujah for that.
He’s never been motivated much to exercise, but it’s so critical to keep
his heart healthy. His mantra has been a
take-off of those beggars on the side of the street with signs that say “will
work for food” but his has been “will run for fish.”
The cardiologist joked that Kory and I should lead seminars
for all his patients on how to eat properly with heart disease, but he’s sure
no one could be as diligent as Kory’s been.
I’d have to agree, but I’m still experimenting with recipes and I’ve
found several things worth making again, so our horizons are expanding.
We had a bountiful Thanksgiving feast that was all fat free
vegan except the turkey and gravy, but no one would have ever known if I hadn’t
pointed it out. Everyone ate until they
were stuffed and the party lasted well into the night. We were thankful for many things this year,
but mostly that Kory is still with us.
I downsized our Christmas traditions this year, everything
from not fully decorating, to not even making a Christmas card and cutting out
a few of our annual events. We are only
home a few months before we take off again and there’s too much to do between
times, so simplifying was the only way it would work. And it worked just fine. Christmas comes whether we’re fully prepared
for it or not and this year felt much like ones in the past as the families we
always share it with were with us and Santa even showed up on Christmas Eve.
Kaleb turned 14 a few weeks ago and just this week finished
an on-line Honors Biology course with Johns Hopkins University. It’s a one-year course he completed in less
than two months but he worked on it for five to six hours a day in order to do
that. Since it’s a class that requires
the internet, he had to finish it before we take off on our next trip. He got an A-, which is pretty amazing in my
mind since it was so detailed and technical with all kinds of fancy words I’d
never remember. He’s still doing a
little math, piano and writing a novel, but they took a back seat to completing
that class. We’re all glad that’s behind
us. He’ll start up Honors Algebra II
when we return in March.
The biggest thing to happen in the last month is that God
has dropped the opportunity in a lifetime into Kaleb’s lap. I was just wondering what to do with him
since he’s now completed all the high school science classes a kid can take,
yet he loves science and wants to learn more.
Through a mutual friend, we found out about a physicist living in
LaConner that is more than happy to mentor him!
He’s also offered him an apprenticeship and wants him to learn the
programming language he uses so he can help with some of the research he does
for Johns Hopkins University! Small
world and boy do we feel blessed. While
we are on our road trip, the physicist will write a grant to get Kaleb his own
MAC loaded with the software so they will be ready to roll when we get
back. It’s a win/win as the scientist
believes he’ll be able to justify paying Kaleb for his work in a few years, and
Kaleb will get to spend time sitting at the feet of “the master.” This was a gift from God, for sure, and we
feel very blessed by it.
Life is good even with the challenges we faced this
year. We have friends, a home, food in
the cupboard and adventures that await - so we are anxious to see what the new
year brings. The best part is knowing
God will be with us, no matter what.
