When I Grow Up...

I went to Austin to visit my friend, Leslie. Her little boy, Nikolas, has been in the hospital, this time, for 8 weeks. The doctors found a mass that they thought might be cancer so he had to have surgery to get it removed. Everything went well and it turned out not to be cancer, which was finally some good news. This kid has been through more in his 8 months than anyone I know.

Her other son, Conner, was staying with a friend so I took him with me to Austin the day of the surgery to distract Leslie. We had a great time. We went to Chili's and had strawberry daiquiri's, played in the yucky bug water outside the hospital and tried to get Conner to take a nap.

Leslie wasn't very successful at the nap until she relented and let him sleep in her suitcase. He had the lid down and everything. It was cracking us up. He slept the entire hour and a half like this.
I've visited Leslie 4 times now and the more I get to know her the more I like her. This last visit I realized that she's who I want to be when I grow up. She's is the most balanced person I think I've ever met. Just when I think I've got her figured out as a straight laced return missionary I find out she's got crazy stories of a stalker who got put in jail and she had more fun than I did when she was single, which is saying something. She talks about the hardships of life honestly and openly, but is optimistic. She's going through the worst situation a parent can and she's holding it together with such strength and humility...I'm just blown away. I don't know how she does it, but I'm taking notes.

Lauren watched Conner all week and I stopped by the day after we got back to see Conner and her son, Ryan, playing dress up. Aren't they the best looking Buzz and Woody you've ever seen?

Leslie has been worried about Conner, but I think he's doing great considering the situation. Any kid who can smile like that can bounce back once things finally settle down.