It's All About the Spaghetti and Key Lime Pie

Yep, it was spaghetti night. Call me weird, but I had this "need" to have everyone here tonight at Dan's sister's house. More about that a little later in the post.

No more appointments, just the waiting game now. Much to my surprise, after a teary Friday night, I was able to sleep in a little this morning. Pretty much from the moment I woke up today, I felt sick to my stomach and didn't feel much like eating breakfast. I don't know how Dan is managing to keep both me and Cayden from falling apart at the seams (ok, maybe mostly me at this point). Although we didn't have a specific "agenda" for our day, we did need to get to the store for the spaghetti supplies and some yummy dessert. Also, today was the day all 4 of my parents, Cayden's mom Angie, stepdad Rob, and brother Taylor were to arrive.

Before we headed to the store, we took in a few innings of our nephew Adam's t-ball game. Oh my...it's been awhile. Can't say that I miss those days. If you've ever watched 5 year olds play t-ball, you know how painful it is to witness. Balls being thrown 90 degrees off from the direction they're aiming. Everyone plays in the infield. The third baseman running all the way over to second base to get a grounder. Little kids running the bases without stopping, even when the catcher's clearly holding the ball. Players climbing the fence and doing everything but actually sitting on the bench in the dugout. Multiple inquiries of "When do we get snack?" Yes, t-ball is definitely entertaining. Thank God it was a sunny day. :)

Shopping would have been uneventful as usual if it weren't for a phone call from our friend Melanie to wish us well and let me know that they were thinking about us and would be continuing to pray for us. Melanie and David are our music leaders at church and we love them dearly. She and David are especially empathetic to our situation because David has not only had a transplant (kidney, not liver), but he has experienced organ rejection and is currently on regular dialysis awaiting a new kidney. I love to talk to Melanie, because she always has this way of making me feel like everything is going to be ok. At church she's come up to me, put her hand on my belly and has prayed for my liver. She always makes me laugh. I sure miss our music group.

While I was peeling plenty of garlic for our garlic bread for dinner, I received a phone call from my dad that he and Patti had arrived safely. Not long after that, Mom called, so I left Dan to make his fabulous spaghetti sauce for dinner while I drove to meet my mom to give her and Don the key for Gail's house. (Gail is the woman from Dan's sister's church who rents out her downstairs for a nominal fee for people who have family at Stanford Hospital.) I beat them to the house, and as I sat waiting in the car I was trying to recall how long it had been since I had last seen my mom and Don. I am embarrassed to say that I think it's been since my sister had her baby, Carson, 2 years ago! Shame on me. Considering they live only 4 hours away, I'd best not let that happen again. They were pretty tired from their long day of traveling. Their flight had left the Tri-Cities at 6 a.m. Ironically, they ended up on the same flight as my dad and Patti out of Seattle into San Jose. Angie, Rob, and Taylor arrived from their ridiculously long drive a little later and took Cayden for a couple of hours while we finished getting everything ready for our dinner with 15 people.

Dinner together was really wonderful. Dan's spaghetti was out of this world, as usual, and I got to eat my favorite...key lime pie. But the best parts of the evening had nothing to do with the food. Before we ate, Dan prayed and thanked God for all of us all being together to celebrate this event. It was an emotional moment for everyone, that I am sure of. There was much conversation and laughter across the table. So much so that it was hard to take it all in and remember to be fully present in the moment. Later on, at one point, Angie pointed out the irony of what was in front of us. Here she and I sat talking together, while at the same time my mom and Patti (my dad's wife) sat talking together across from us...the current wives chatting with the ex-wives. Who'd have thought? As I stood in the kitchen, Cayden came over to me and just layed his head on my shoulder. God, how I love that boy!

As everyone left, I felt sort of sad. I had planned this night for weeks, knowing that I wanted to have everyone together for a meal and now it was over. One more night after tonight, and then I'll be waking up early to head for the hospital. Both my mom and my dad are worried for me, but I keep telling them I'll be ok. When I get really afraid, I need to remember to tell myself that very same thing.