Houston Part II: Extended Family

One of the many blessings that is revealing itself with the increased control over our visits to Houston is that we are not pushing as hard as we were before.  We are not generally sitting in doctor’s offices ALL day, then attempting to “squeeze” the very important fun times in.  As much as my better judgment at times would say we needed to stay in and rest, the very real need to make the fun memories too would often overpower the logical part of my brain (and heart).  With the new schedule, the fun times are not at the cost of needed rest like they were before!!  SO much better!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Monday night we were blessed to have beds to sleep in at my Aunt and Uncles house.  We had a lovely meal, and more, we had some good quality time to visit and love on them.  Never can get too much of that!!!  They graciously fed us a lovely breakfast the next morning before we were off to start our day.

I also mentioned in the last post that I was discombobulated this trip down, and while this was mostly related to not quite knowing where we were sleeping from night to night, and unpacking and re-packing more than I ever want to again, there was one other reason I was a bit out of sorts….a good reason!!

My precious child, Madison, was planning a surprise for me for my birthday Tuesday night.  Little did I know at the time, but she’d actually been working on it since we were in Houston in April, when she found out that we would be there over my birthday again this year.  She and my precious friend, Jeanne, were working out the when’s and where’s, but it was ALL on Madison to then contact the other people she wanted to be there for my special evening.  She, quite literally, stressed herself out getting it all arranged, then dealing with the fact that we were not where we thought we would be Tuesday night!!

Madi, Jeanne, Kyla & Beth

In the end, it all worked out beautifully!!!  I was dressed from head to toe in items my precious family had gotten for me and felt like a million dollars…I was directed to get us to RMH where the meet up would take place…..and there, one by one, some of my most precious friends came through the door to help celebrate my special day!!!  They were all there to take ME…little ol me….out for a special dinner!!!

I will simply say Perry’s Steakhouse is amazing!!!!  There we met up with my cousin, and while two other people I love dearly were not able to make it, they were definitely there in spirit!!! It was an incredible evening, and I am pretty sure that had someone been looking in on our table, they would never have guessed that prior to this evening not a single one of these precious ladies had ever met before!!!  It made my heart swell seeing these people that I love, start loving on each other too.

Margie, Jeanne, Kyla & Beth

My precious Jeanne

Miss Madison put her heart and soul into this surprise and it could not have been any sweeter!!!! 

Wednesday we finally got in and settled at RMH and I started feeling a bit less out of sorts thankfully!!!  We had some down time after our appointments that morning that we took advantage of, spending some time loving on our RMH family, and then headed over to visit with Jeanne and her precious girls.  As always, we walked in their apartment and one would think we spend every day over there.  There is a comfort that we have with this family, and no matter how long it’s been since we have had the chance to see them, we just pick back up like no time has elapsed at all.  It’s perfectly lovely, and so awesomely real.  We had a wonderful time visiting with them and having dinner.

Thursday evening, we were without the boy & my mom who were both stuck at the hospital.  After finishing up our appointments and errands for the day, the girls and I were in need of a little more time with the female portion of the Andrew’s family!!  Beth & Madison were gracious enough to come back over to our part of town and have dinner with the girls and I, getting me back to the hospital for the night just in time to catch the end of game 5 of the NBA play offs with my Mavs loving son!!  Another family we are just so blessed to just mesh with in a really incredible way!!

Finally, Friday afternoon part of us were off to yet another family we have become an extension of (Madi wasn’t feeling good and stayed back with my mom)……

How incredible is it that we have this many families that we feel this kind of belonging to!!??

The Parker’s welcomed us into their home with open arms as usual, and we picked right back up where we left off last time….just so very cool.  Sean and Chance were almost immediately playing music together….we had the chance to congratulate Lauren on her graduation and give her a little token from each of us that we hope brightens her day when she sees them…..Abby & Skye were off exploring who knows what….and Teion and I were immediately in conversation about anything & everything, over glasses of wine.  We were further blessed on this occasion to meet another family that the Parker’s love, and had an amazing time getting to know them!!!

We are SO very blessed to have this amazing extended family.  I cannot imagine our time in Houston without them there.  They rejuvenate me when I need it the most…..and though we come home weary, at the same time, we come home feeling all warm & fuzzy, and so very loved.

Family….friends…..THANK YOU!!!  We love you all so very very much!!!

Houston Part I: Medical

Overall, it was a light week without too many revelations. 

However, it’s never quite that easy…..while true that we didn’t have too many appointments, there seem to be so few anymore that are just “routine”, for lack of a better word.  Even if one, or even two of the kids seen alone might produce a “routine” appointment, there is always one that takes it in another direction.  And while nothing discussed was a “revelation”, it doesn’t mean there are not changes that are emotionally difficult to swallow.

On some level, I loathe writing this post.  I need to….for me as much as anyone else….but what I really want to do is write about the fun stuff from the week.  The next installment will be nothing but FUN….this I can guarantee!!

We started the week with Madison still trying to recover from her gut shut down of the week before, which has been a slower process than I would have expected.  Although, considering how run down she has been, for so long now, I guess nothing should surprise me anymore. 

While we have had oxygen sitting in the house for a couple of weeks now, because we are still lacking the pulse ox machines, we’d been waiting to get started.  However, last Friday night Madison was having a lot of shortness of breath at bedtime, and since we’d heard from Pulmonology that we could go ahead and start while we wait for the pulse ox machines, I offered her oxygen for the night to see if it would help.  And it did.  We’d continued with her over the weekend with plans to get the other two started when we got to Houston.  In preparation, I had gone ahead and filled our portable containers to take with us, knowing we might need to get through a night before the O2 company could deliver what we would need for the week.

When we made our usual pit stop at Buc-ee’s, I noted that Madison was not looking so hot and offered to get the O2 and let her wear it the last hour and a half till we got to my Aunt & Uncle’s house, which she immediately agreed to.  On the one hand, I wasn’t pleased that she was feeling cruddy enough to be willing to wear it….on the other hand, I am pleased that she is already feeling a positive affect.  Always a mixed bag.

We were not able to get a room at RMH for our first night…..something that’s only happened one other time, but is the risk we take.  Thankfully it meant we got an evening with my aunt and uncle with some time to visit, making the delay in getting in to RMH thoroughly enjoyable!!  At least for the first night.  We were hopeful we might get in on Tuesday though, especially now that we need to have O2 delivered and not knowing where your going to be makes that a bit more complicated.

On Tuesday, Chance saw our pulmonologist.  I honestly didn’t think there would be all that much to talk about since we were just getting started on the O2, but for the second time as of late, when they did the spot check of his O2 sats there in the office, he was sitting at 96 for an extended period of time.  96 isn’t bad by anyone’s standards, but IS different for him, and a little lower than the pulmo wants him sitting at.  Had this been the first time I had seen it, I might have blown it off, but that it was the second time in a row & I suspected it might be more accurate than I had given it credit for the first time. 

As I have said before, we really love our pulmo.  She was, as always, very attentive….and more, she wants to know everything that is going on when she sees the kids, not just the breathing related issues.  While it makes for a longer appointment, it is always good to have as many smart people as possible thinking about what we are seeing.

In light of the sats we were seeing during the spot check, she hooked him up while we visited to see what was going on.  Part of me expected it to be fine, now that we were actually looking at it, but sure enough, she hooked him up and he just sat at 96.  She had him sit up and while we were able to get him to pop up to 98 for a little bit, after a few minutes he dropped back to 96 and just sat there for the rest of the appointment.

In light of this, our O2 plans have changed a bit.  She wants me to spot check him during the day and if he is sitting below 97, she would like us to supplement with O2 and see if we can get him consistently satting higher.  We will keep her posted as we start being able to monitor with the pulse ox, both night and day, and will see her again in August to go over how it’s all working out.

Unfortunately, we did not get into RMH on Tuesday, but with early morning appointments the next morning, staying anywhere but close by the medical district didn’t make sense.  We were able to find a hotel room not too far away that worked out okay…..and I was able to go ahead and get O2 delivered there. 

Wednesday morning, all three kids were seen by our immunologist.  For Chance & Abby, the appointment was quite routine.  Other than a few changes in Abby’s meds to deal with the sinus issues she has had this year, there really wasn’t much else to talk about.  For Miss Madison, the big news was that she HAD been able to build titers to the vaccine we had given her in April.  This is good news in that it means she has all the parts to her immune system to do what needs to be done……and at the same time, was bad news in the sense that clearly her immune system is not working right (all the right parts, or not), and this took any hope of having a treatment that might help support her immune system off the table.  It was not a shock, and I had already started wrapping my mind around our alternative….we can only support her as much as possible, as quickly and aggressively as possible, when she starts showing signs of infection.  Already working on it.

While there, we had a nice visit from 2 of the ladies working in our mito specialists office, both there to talk to us about some fun things they are working on, and needed our input and the kids artistic abilities for.  When all was said and done, our immunologist being behind schedule turned out to be a good thing, and we had plenty of time to visit and work on our project.  Always nice when things work out that way!!

Thankfully, very shortly before we needed to make a decision about staying in the hotel for another night, we received word that there was a room available for us at RMH.  I had no idea how discombobulated it would make me to be in limbo that far into the week.  No doubt in part because this was also the first time we were dealing with the O2, but I was exhausted and out of sorts by this time, and never so happy to get settled somewhere familiar with people we know care about us!!  Even when that means re-packing (at the speed of light so we could check out on time), and unpacking AGAIN.  It was, perhaps, a good reminder of how blessed we are to have this home away from home….not that I ever forget it!!

Bright and (far too) early Thursday morning, Chance and I checked in to the hospital for a 23 hour video EEG.  Chance has been having some episodes that seem seizure-like and so the EEG was ordered to see if we could catch something to give us some clues.  It’s always unclear whether you’ll catch something while your there, but as often as he has been having these episodes, I was more optimistic than usual. He did have a mild one during the strobe light/hypoventilation portion of the test, and it was noted, but otherwise we were a bit jinxed and he managed to make it the whole time without another one.  In the end, it may or may not show something. 

My mom came over at about 11:30am to take over the bedside vigil so I could take the girls to see our pulmonologist for their appointment.  Like for Chance’s appointment, I didn’t anticipate having all that much to talk about since we had just started the O2, and for the most part, this held true.  Madison though was looking horrible by the time we got there, and did nothing by lay on the table, essentially refusing to interact.  VERY unlike my girl, especially when we are seeing this doctor whom she loves to chat with.  With all we have been seeing, while using O2 during the day with Madison had been discussed as something we might need to do, the pulmo talked with Madison and I both about the need for it considering how she is doing right now.  While Madison is still insistent she doesn’t want to wear it when other people can see her, she agreed to use it otherwise.  The only other change we are making is to try a nose mask for Abby since the canula is bothering her.  It has a kitty cat nose & whiskers on it, so Abby thinks it’s adorable!!  In a very positive turn, both girls were already feeling a positive effect of using the O2.  Considering we were away from home and all the stress that comes with that, I honestly wasn’t sure if we’d be able to tell whether there was anything positive with it or not, so as much as my heart wishes it wasn’t needed, I am pleased to see it’s already making a difference.  I am anxious to see how they are doing after a week here at home on it!!

Mom and I switched out for the night so I could be there with Chance until he was done Friday morning.  Friday was spent taking care of some loose ends that needed our attention while we were there, ordering one more night of O2, and taking Abby over for labs.

Madison is still struggling.  She’s swelled back up again, not quite as badly as she was a few weeks ago, but only barely better.  She’s exhausted & cranky & just generally not feeling well.  Whether she’s still recovering from the gut shut down, and last week just added to her already stressed system, or if she is brewing something new isn’t clear yet.  I don’t even know which one I am hoping for!!!  Watching her closely and hoping there is a clear indication when/if we need to support her more than we already are here at home.

Next installment…..FUN!!  Oh how very grateful we are that even in the midst of all this stuff, there is fun to share.

The Good Stuff!! Houston on the lighter side

Madi & Zoey

While I am still playing catch up, THIS post is the one I most wanted to write and share!! 

Our trips to Houston are truly a very mixed bag. 

There is the prep beforehand, packing, and getting four of us ready to go.  There is the multitude of appointments, the far too frequent things that are hard to hear, and the pokes & testing.

But at the same time, there is the chance to see people we love, the comfort and thrill of having an amazing support system there too, and the opportunities to make happy memories spending time with family, old friends and new ones each and every time.

Celeste & Madi

Harley & Abby

In the end, the HAPPY stuff somehow always outweighs the yucky stuff.  How awesome and amazing is that!!??

Face painting FUN!! Abby as Ke$ha

Madi as Lady Gaga

This trip was no different and even held a few extra special moments to share.

Chance & Jeanne

Picking up on Wednesday……after a full day of appointments we headed back to RMH where my Aunt Gayle, Uncle John and Cousin Ashton were waiting for us to have dinner and visit!!  As always, it was SO good to see them, and we adored having some time together.  A bit later, our precious friend Jeanne and her beautiful girls joined the fun and, as always, brightened our day!!

Rachel & Chance

Everyone but Abby & Chance knew that this group of friends was there for a reason….beyond the obvious chance to get to visit and love on us, Chance & Abby didn’t know that there was an awesome, amazing surprise in store for the two of them!!!

Last Fall we learned about an organization called KeepKidsConnected.org during one of our visits to Houston at the RMH.  Several of our friends down in Houston had been blessed by this organization with their own netbook computers….so that each one of these amazing kids, all fighting a life threatening condition, could have the chance to keep connected with the friends and family that give them the strength and optimism they need to keep on keeping on.  When we were back in February, several more of our friends were being blessed and the kids got a chance to meet the people that are making this ministry possible.  That was all it took for them to express an interest in possibly applying for the honor.

After considering how amazing it would be for ALL the kids to have a way to stay connected without the need to share all the time (which they have all actually been so good about), and Madison expressing the desire for the one netbook we own being “hers”, we decided to apply and see what might happen. 

It just so happened that I heard back from the organization on the evening that Madison was inpatient right before we headed down.  I was literally thinking as I made my way home for the night, how amazing it was that, while getting poked and not feeling well, Madison had her friends WITH her at the hospital because of the wonders of technology.  And those friends that were right there, rooting her on, loving on her AS it happened, well, one of those friends was in Seattle and the other one was in Florida!!  How incredible is that!!??  So to get home and see the email from Keep Kids Connected….the one that said both Chance & Abby were approved…..well, it was pretty amazing.  Had there been any doubt how much that connection means, watching Madison that day had removed any that might have existed.  It’s vital, that connection…vital to the kids remaining positive when things are hard.

Needless to say, I was just a little excited for the kids!!!  Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to NOT share it with them so we could make it a surprise, and the lovely couple that run the organization were up for the fun of it all.  Poor Chance, he asked regularly if I had heard back from them and I just kept telling him I had not!!!

So, with our family and friends there, Jerry & Dawn from Keep Kids Connected made their way over to where we were all visiting, while I told Chance & Abby that there was someone I wanted them to meet. 

Surprise!!

The look on both their faces, as they slowly realized what was going on, was absolutely PRICELESS!!!

It was truly a spectacular evening and it was one of those nights when, exhausted, you lay down in bed and just feel the warmth of all the love and joy that took place.  Thank you is not enough to express the gratitude we have for Keep Kids Connected and what they did for our kiddo’s.  What they did for ALL of us that love those kiddo’s too.

Some HAPPY kids

We all slept hard Wednesday night.  But there were plans for Thursday morning, so we got up and got ready to go to our FIRST visit to the Houston Zoo!!!  Yes, after 3 years of regular visits down there….being hounded by a special friend of ours that insisted we needed to take him….we FINALLY made it.  It has literally been either too hot or too cold or too wet before now to make it happen, but we were SO excited to finally be heading over, and the weather was PERFECT.

We had a BALL!!  It’s all of about 2 minutes from RMH and we managed to see it all in a couple of hours, leaving us time for lunch before our afternoon appointments.  So glad we can finally say we made it J  and sincerely hope there are more visits in our future down there.

Yes, that's my mom doing rabbit ears!!

Thursday evening we had plans to meet the female half of the Andrew’s family at Build-A-Bear for a much anticipated adventure.  The girls and Madison A. had decided that a visit to B-A-B was mandatory at some point in February when we were down then, so by April they were all three chomping at the bit to get there already.  We met Beth & Madison at B-A-B and the girls went about finding their perfect animal to stuff while Beth and I got a chance to visit a little bit.

Truth be told, it’s been a LONG time since I was in Build-a-Bear!!  Like YEARS!!  I wasn’t real sure what to expect, especially with the girls being older, but it was truly a delightful experience!!  The girls chose peace Bears to stuff and we were then off for the ritual of stuffing their treasures, where the lady working there made it TOO precious!!  All three bears each have three hearts for each one of the girls, and not just any hearts, these are hearts that have been wished upon by each girl, kissed, and a friendship cheer sealed the deal.  

After a bath, these special little guys were named, and after some debate over the best names for them, they became (so very appropriately) Best (Madison A’s), Friends (Madi M’s), and Forever (Abby’s)!!! 

Naming

The whole thing was a lot more fun, and far more precious than I could have imagined!!!  We then had dinner with the A girls and just soaked in the time we had together, knowing it was coming to an end sooner than we wanted.

Best, Friends & Forever

Finally, on Friday we went about getting ready to head home.  The girls and I made a quick run over to the hospital first for a few last minute tests we needed to get done before leaving, and then it was time for packing and cleaning.  As organized as I am, and as good as Mom and I are at getting the room cleaned, it still takes us a few hours to get ready to head out the door.  The kids helped with the initial stuff, then headed downstairs for some time with their friends before we headed out.

While the plan had been that Jeanne and the girls would head over for a final farewell, it’s always questionable with Gabi and her seizures whether they will be able to make it.  Needless to say, we were THRILLED when they made it and we had a half hour more to visit and love on them before we hit the road.  Could not have asked for a better way to end our visit down.

It’s in these moments I am reminded how amazing our exceptional life really is.

Houston Day One & Two

We arrived Sunday evening to find several of our friends, as usual, at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH), happy to see us.  I was reminded, again, how blessed we are to have this home away from home.  We settled in, got dinner, then hit the hay knowing we had a very early morning on Monday.

Monday morning all three kids had hearing tests and a visit with the ENT.  Chance has been seeing Dr. R since last year when we thought.....no, greatly feared....that he was losing his hearing.  Dr. R was our hero when he found the easiest of answers....something far too rare around here....Chance's ears were just full of wax!!  While removal was not fun, Chance was astounded at how well he could hear when it was all done, and we realized he'd likely not been hearing well for a while.  Needless to say, we like Dr. R...a lot.  He is easy to like though....he's got a great bedside manner, plays in a band on the weekends, so he and Chance have plenty to talk about, and is just generally a pretty cool dude.  When we saw him in November, he suggested that the girls really should be followed too, so we made appointments for them then, not realizing there would actually be a few things to talk about, ENT related, by the time we saw him.

All three passed their hearing tests with flying colors.  As I expected.  Proving they really just are not listening to me...LOL.  Chance's visit was pretty boring.....a bit more wax to remove and we were done!!  Miss Abby has had the sinus infections since we saw him last, so we talked a bit about that, and basically he told Abby she has to do the nasal flushes, like it or not.  We will see him again in 4 months, at which time hopefully she will tolerate the flushes and have no more issues, and decide if more needs to be done.  Overall though, he really does think we have cleared the infection and won't likely need to worry about it again.  Madison has been, since last August, having episodic swelling of just the left side of her face.  When it first happened, she additionally had partial paralysis of that side, and no one was quite sure what to make of it.  The preceeding episodes have not included the paralysis thankfully.  When the paralysis was involved, the thought that it might be an issue with the saliva gland did not even enter my mind...how could something like that cause paralysis??!!  But as it happened again and again, and that aspect was not included, the thought had occurred to me.  Finally, this last week, our ped wondered about it also and thought we should consider some imaging to see.  Whatever it is, it is not constant, but it happens pretty regularly.  Dr. R agreed that we should get an MRI and try to figure this out.  It turns out that there is a nerve that runs through the salivary gland, so it CAN cause paralysis sometimes, so maybe this is what we are dealing with after all.  There is no rush, and we'll get the MRI done in August, and see where that takes us.  Otherwise, from the ENT perspective of things, all three are doing well.  My kind of appointment!!

After the appointments and a couple of errands, we returned to the RMH to await a couple more of our friends due to arrive for a stay.  Madison could not have been more thrilled to see "her love" Celeste, and Abby about burst when she saw her friend, Harley arrive!!  We were further entertained and loved on when our besties, the Andrew's (well the 2 female ones) came for a visit and we went and ate pie.  Madison was up and down all day, and looked pretty bad by evening, and her g-tube site was NOT happy by the time bedtime rolled around.  We were seriously muddling through, but hanging in there.

Today we had appointments for all three with their mito doctor, and Madison saw the immunologist.  In general, it was an update appointment for Chance and Abby, and while both have things going on, all is being handled well, so there wasn't all that much to talk about with them.  I had given Dr. K the heads up, so she knew today was really about Madison.  In the end, like me, she feels most everything we are dealing with right now is related to her constant illness, and that we need to try and find some way to help her.  While this was good to hear, in that she is seeing what I am, we still don't know what it is we need to do yet, but all seem to be getting on the same page now at least.  In the end, she was glad we were seeing immunology today and is hoping we'll get some answers there.

I love our immunologist, Dr. P....she is a hoot and so very good with the kids.  Madison had been dragging all morning...good in that the doctors needed to see her so puny....but by this appointment I was starting to get worried about her.  She perked up a little, just because Dr. P was loving on her.  I knew going in we wouldn't get any answers today, although I'll admit I still wanted some.  Dr. P did find that Madison's spleen is still enlarged, something that happens when you have mono, but something that usually goes down within a month or so.  We are almost 2 months out from the mono diagnosis, so we don't like seeing that.  She also noted how swollen Madison is right now.....she has gained 10 pounds in less than 2 weeks and just looks so puffy.  While neither of these things tells us much, we do have a plan for now, and I need to find some peace in that.  Tomorrow or Thursday we will get a whole slew of labs done on Madison.  Finding a vein may be a challenge, and my heart hurts having to stick her yet again so soon, but we know our favorite phlebotomist, Monica will make it happen, and love on our girl all the way through.  Then we wait.  It will take about 2 weeks to get the results back, and either it will clearly show us whats going on, or we will be back at square one and I am not sure where we go from there.  While we wait, we are to continue treating the g-tube infection as we have been, and pray it starts to get better.  Between you and I, I suspect we will need to find a way to get into our GI next week and see if he has any other ideas to throw at it.

Madi did perk up a little this afternoon, and spent it low key hanging with her friend.  Abby and Harley hung out and had a ball together, and Chance was creating something out of bamboo he found.  All three had a nice afternoon and evening and are exhausted, snug in their beds this evening, sleeping hard.  I was able to meet up with a new possible mito mom  I have been talking with for the last couple of months this afternoon, and we were so priveleged to get to meet her daughter too!!  This child is just too adorable, and her mom is pretty awesome.  I wish we would have had more time to visit, but was so glad we were able to meet face to face and have even a little bit of time.  Loved meeting you and K, Kyla!!!

Tomorrow we see cardiology with Madison, then pulmonology/sleep doctor with all three in the afternoon.  I am SURE the cardiology appointment will be uneventful, but they do make me so very nervous, and with this swelling she is doing, I'll admit I am even a little more than usual.  I hope to get cardiology on board with the need to figure out the infections also....just cannot have too many of her specialists pushing for some answers.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!!!!

Southwest Airlines...and Margarita's

I am often struck by the psychology that comes with "living" at the Ronald McDonald House (AKA RMH or the House).  Whether your here for a "short" stay like our visits are, or here long term, it's an interesting topic to explore.  And while I would like to ask you all to imagine it, the reality is that unless you have either lived on a commune somewhere, or have had stays at the RMH, it's really not something you can truly grasp.  And really, even if your one of the few that have lived on a commune, it's still different.

"A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, work, and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become important core principlesfor many communes."


Commune is as close as I can get to sharing what it's like living here, but really, it's very different.  We are not an "intentional community" in the sense that we are not here because we "want" to be.  We are all grateful for the accomodations, and grateful for the exceptional medical care we can get here, but we are here for medical care and that's just not ever something you "want" to be somewhere for.


We do all, essentially, live together.

We do share common interests, if you will.  We all have the common bond of having a child/children receiving medical care, but realistically, there are many different reasons for the need.


We share resources, as in places to get help, ways to travel for medical care, how to, well, do it all.  


We do not "share property" but we do all use the common areas, and attempt to maintain these areas.  And the reality is, we do share, more than one might expect.  We share rides as needed, help each other out with food when someone is running low, monitor each others children, give each other pep talks, offer shoulders to cry on, laugh (a lot), commiserate when we can, pray for each other, and appreciate the kindness of strangers (and many who become friends) who feed us nightly.

Which brings me to the title of my post.....Southwest Airlines.  And margarita's.  

I have always liked SWA.  I like their business philosophy, their marketing techniques (having a husband in marketing, I notice things like that), and have always had good experiences flying with them.  A few years ago the kids and I met an amazing lady who worked for SWA for a very long time, and we were once again impressed....by both the company and the people who make up the company. The people who ARE the company. It is a unique quality you don't see often in business....that the PEOPLE are what makes the company great. And that the company recognizes that.


I have grown to love this company.....for all the reasons that I already knew, and so much more.  


SWA has been very, very involved in the RMH world, and have played a large part in the House here in Houston being here.  It's one thing to see the plaque's commemorating the areas they have funded to happen....it's a whole other thing to see them here, at the House, cooking a meal (by far some of the best we ever have), entertaining us, finding out who we are and becoming friends....real friends who care and keep up with us even when it's not their night to be here feeding us.  Here making us margarita's and making sure we are well supplied for the afternoon and evening.


The distraction is welcome.....but so much more happens on SWA nights.  There is a feeling in the air....a feeling that our friends are here and that we will have a wonderful day.  They will make sure we have a wonderful day.


I have tried and honestly, failed, to try and express to them how much they mean to us....ALL of us here at RMH.


Tonight I sit here, margarita in hand (don't ask how many I have had.....Terry has been keeping me supplied<grin>), and I raise my glass to an amazing company....to dear friends....Southwest Airlines.