Turbulance

Have you ever been motion sick?  Like severe, curl up your toes, world spinning, throw up for hours and maybe wish for death motion sick?  Well from the sounds of it, Kit and Naomi were on a flight last night in which many, many passengers were just that very kind of sick.  Hours of turbulence so severe that flight attendants were crawling (yes crawling) on their hands and knees to help distressed passengers scattered throughout the plane.  (Really, the one in the pencil skirt couldn’t actually move her knees apart, so she was crawling with her arms, whilst dragging her mermaid/seal legs behind her!)  Women were running crying down the aisle towards the latrines.  Passengers were told to stay in their seats and throw up, tiny air sickness bags present or not.  (And as an aside, who has ever wretched into a motion sick bag on an airplane and not overfilled it?  Seriously they are woefully volume insufficient.)  I can only write about this flight because I wasn’t actually on it.  If I had been on it, I would still be hospitalized today, assuming I had survived to touch down 5 hours later.  “Ladies and gentlemen, are there any doctors on this flight that could offer assistance?  We have a medical ‘situation’ back here?”  Sadly, I’d probably try to raise my hand before I would realize that they were referring to me. 

If you have never been motion sick, imagine this:  suddenly and violently you are released from gravity, but everything else around you is still anchored down.  But not only are you released from gravity, forces that are beyond your control are rapidly spinning you up and down and all around, with no rhyme or reason.  Your stomach raises right up into your mouth, and your internal organs feel like they are going to drown in the excess of saliva your mouth has suddenly began to produce in mass quantity.  You cannot trust what your eyes are seeing, because blurry dots only add to the disorientation your body is experiencing.  You cannot dare to open your mouth, or eyes, or breathe because you are quite sure all your bodily fluids will emerge forth on anyone unfortunate enough to be in your path.

Okay seriously, they survived the flight.  Naomi borrowed a quote from Jumanji.  “Mom, ‘I like can’t even with this place!’”  Bless her.  Maybe that flight kept her from crying about being away from home.  Once they arrived to their hotel at 330am, she just passed out.  Today they got groceries and then resettled at the Ronald McDonald House, into a sweet little two bedroom suite which will be home for the next 2 months.  Her first appointment went so very well today.  For a whole minute her neck felt “warm and completely pain free.”  One minute, it was like a little oasis in the middle of this last year of turbulence in her life.  I’ll take one minute.  She did too.  They settled into their rooms and then had a home cooked meal by volunteers who came and made Italian sausage and veggies with penne pasta, homemade bread, fresh tossed salad, and fresh peach and cherry cobbler.  Home cooked meals made with the love of people giving their time to serve families who are far from home help ease broken hearts and bodies. 

Here at home we are missing our two absent members more than we can fully express verbally.  Each one of our babes is struggling in their own ways, and their mommy is too.  I am so thankful for my oldest son, who is trying to step up and care for his siblings, like his sister would.  He held my hand all the way to church yesterday as I cried over good-byes.  He has never had to be responsible for the house alone, because his sister usually dose the hard work, with a little help from her papa.  He is learning that part of growing up and being a man, not just a boy, is stepping up to the plate when your daddy can’t be present, and doing the adult things that have to be done.  I’m so proud of Jacob, he is growing in integrity and size, and God has given him the great gift of an amazing daddy to show him how it’s done. He is becoming a shelter from the storms for his family; a stream in the desert. He is becoming a refuge from the battles of life.    A few weeks ago he escorted me to help me say good-by to my grandpa, now he is standing up and helping me care for his siblings.  (Let’s just hope no one ends up throwing up in a cemetery this week…and if you don’t understand that reference, read my “Hello Goodbye” post.)

I guess it is fitting that Naomi’s flight away from home was marked by EXTREME turbulence.  This year has been filled with it…ups and downs, us holding on for dear life, praying for relief and trying to remember that all seasons eventually give way to another season.  I am praying that this is now going to be the season of spring for my sweet girl.  That the pain that has isolated her from the beautiful world around her, will finally give way to reprieve and fresh new days, blooming flowers of joy and new relationships.  If you find yourself on a flight like theirs, remember all flights eventually come to an end (and taking your own empty gallon sized zip lock bags will prevent you from ever having to just sit and throw up on yourself).  If you find yourself in a sustained season of discomfort, hold on, spring is coming.