Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Love From Afar

Great Grandpa has been in the hospital these last two weeks. Here we were gearing up for all the fun of having him visit us again and just a few days before his visit he started feeling really horrible. Next, he found himself in the hospital about to have emergency surgery to remove what ended up being a cantaloupe sized growth from his intestines et al. Lumps and bumps have become such a scary thing. Especially with age. Immediately I think we all thought the same thing and reached the same horrible conclusion. Our Il Capo had cancer...

Well I am overwhelmingly happy to report that the wonderful pathologist didn't keep us waiting in dreadful suspense for long. A few days after surgery the results came back - no cancer. As soon as Grandpa recovers from his 5 hour surgery and super extreme weight loss program (removal of tumor) he will be back to his healthy spunky self.

I hated being so far away. There are many disadvantages to haven chosen to be further away from family. I think the worst is when they are sick and you are truly worried about them. You know the kind of worry I mean. The, "are they going to make it" kind of worry. If the kids were out of school, and I wasn't in the middle of buying a house I would have driven down. So...what do you do when you are far away and you want someone to know you are thinking of them CONSTANTLY and that you LOVE them a ton?

Give them a HEART ATTACK! I love care packages. They are so fun to put together. The whole time you are thinking about how much you love that person as you ponder about what to fill your empty box with.

I loved sending packages to Dave while he was in Egypt. I can't wait to send packages to my little missionaries and college students. But this week I got to send one to my Grandpa.

Here we are working away at personalizing our many, many hearts. Even Baby Sara got in on the fun. I think though that in her case, most of her decorating ended up on her legs than on her share of the hearts.

So Grandpa, I am so glad that you are well on your way to recovery! I hope our little heart attack brightened your stay in the hospital and that you were constantly reminded how much we love you.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute,
Love the tongue on Emily.
Love
Mom

The Roberts Rollercoaster RIde said...

Jenn what a great idea! You were always so good at that stuff. Very creative!!

Nicole said...

Ha ha- I like Sara up there coloring with her legs up.

Anonymous said...

Jen,
Your little Heart Attack went perfect. We got it all done while Grandpa was sleeping. When he moved rooms we took down everything except for the ones on the ceiling. We figured that the next occupant would need some love too.
Dad

Lisa said...

Such a cute idea. I remember when you heart attacked the front of our house when Katie had surgery. Thank you for thar! You are too cute.

Andrea said...

hOW'S HE DOING NOW?

M said...

Jenny, reading this made me cry. Grandpa (and EVERYONE else) loved the hearts. It made being in the hospital for so long a little less depressing. Everyone (including nurses/staff) commented on how nice it was to walk into a happily decorated room. I read each heart to Grandpa (more than once)- he loved them all. I love these pictures of your kids actually making them! You are amazing. I tell you that all the time when I leave comments, but seriously, you just are!!! Love you. Love, Missy