Tappy needs a new set of lungs

I’ve spent much of this week reflecting on this past year.  It was extremely emotional to put it mildly.  The day Mom and Dad left we stood in the driveway hugging, afraid to let go.  My mother got out of the car at least three times, just to get one last hug.  My father and I hugged longer and tighter than we ever did before….and we both knew it.  “Just a few months” we told each other.
We all thought Mom and Dad would be settled back home by now but it just didn’t work out that way.  I realized this week that I will not get to see my parents for a second christmas.  Only the second one in all of my 38 years.  But the holidays are just one or two days and I have been fortunate enough to be welcomed into many homes during these times.  My cousin Mona is the one who made this all bearable.  She has taken me under her wing and I love her for that and so much more.Â
But its the everyday things that are hardest.  Trying to explain to a crying 8 year old boy that Nan and Tap will be home soon.  I’ve been promising him that since they left.  Wanting a hug from my mother….just because, and a new pact, more hugs from my father.  It’s the days when something really good happens and I want to run into their house and tell the news, or the day something really bad happens and I know my mother will pick up on it just by looking at my face.Â
I was again fortunate that I was able to go to Toronto and see them in June.  In some ways though, it made things harder.  Those goodbyes were as gut wrenching as the ones before.Â
It’s been almost a year since they left.  Everyday , I wait for the call from my mother telling me Dad is getting his lung.Â
These are the things that people don’t see.  The emotional roller coaster we ride is invisible to most because we hide it.  Today, I wanted to share it……just because

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I know its been a while since we put anything on the blog and there’s a good reason for that.  There’s not much going on.  For those of you who tune in on a regular basis It must be a bit frustrating.

Its been a great Summer with lots of visitors.   besides our children and their families we saw our neighbour Jack Wall who was in Toronto on union business.  We also had a visit from John Nimchuk, a boyhood friend whom I haven’t seen in years.  And we were invited out for a great afternoon with the MacAskill twins and their Father Angus who was visiting from home.

Ross Thomas and Molly Carling, two friends who recently received transplants, continue to make good progress.  Following a bit of a lull there seems to be more activity now in the number of lung transplants being done.  There have been 71 to date  this year with 56 on the wiating list.  

   Film at 6.