Home and Away

Have you ever worked at summer camp?


You know how it feels to take a day off from camp?

You leave camp, kinda grungy and dirty, with a bag full of dirty laundry and many plans for rest and relaxation....maybe a special event or something fun planned, like a concert.

You get home, and you feel a little lost. You find yourself waking up early and then checking your watch. "Oh, they're at swimming right now," you say to yourself. "Oh, now it's time for lunch. I wonder what they're having." You move around in your regular space, your home, and you feel a little odd. The carpet feels strange against your bare feet. The shower is a little too clean. There are too many choices in the refrigerator. It's a little too quiet in your room without the rest of your cabinmates rustling around. But it's good to be back. It's good to hug your family and see your non-camp buddies. It's good to go to your favorite local restaurant.

It's good to be home. But you miss camp.

And then it's time to go back.

You come back to camp, scrubbed clean, with a bag full of sparkling clean, neatly folded laundry. You have a few new t-shirts, maybe a pedicure, and you are well-rested, full of energy. And you walk back in and breathe the camp air, and it feels like home. Like you never left. Within a few minutes you're sweaty and hot, a little more tired, and your campers are clamoring for your attention...and you love it. (And every so often, you wonder what is going on back at home...who's going out, who's meeting at the street fair that you're missing...)

It's good to be at camp.
But you miss home.

That's a little bit what it felt like for me to be home for the last few days. I kept wondering what Sam was doing. I kept thinking about how things were going here, and I was updated via phone calls and text messages and pictures and FaceTime. Things mostly went well here at the hospital, and I was trying really hard to pay attention.

But I was also at home. And I was trying to pay attention there too. To my David and Yael and Solly....to my family and friends who were so helpful and wonderful and caring.


Wherever my family is...is home.
Here and there.
So I'm back at home in the hospital with Sam.

And the rest of my heart is back at home in Highwood.

Sigh....and so we go on.

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Update from today...in pictures. (There was a lot of resting and napping today, but in the few hours that Sam felt well, here's what happened!)

My friend Craig Taubman sent us these noses. I think every hospital room might need some noses. (Thanks, Craig!)

Even Dr. Tower wore a nose. Such a good sport. We decided that he needed to have it in his repertoire. Sam suggested a matching wig.

Sam got a LOT of mail. This was one of my favorite packages. Thanks, Tiferet. (Tiferet is the Arts Unit at OSRUI.)

We took a walk and found a nice couch to sit on and I read a bunch of books. This one was an encyclopedic look at frogs. Sam loves frogs.

And a conversation with Uncle Josh. They are discussing his beard-shaving...can't wait for that to happen!

And that's the report from E571. So far....so good.
(Post coming soon with answers to many pressing questions. Stay tuned.)