The Rule of Three

You know the saying "bad things always happen in threes" - well that certainly applies to our family this week.  It has been a tough one. 

Over the weekend Dean's Uncle Ken passed away.  I remember him as such a jolly person who loved kids. Here he is pictured with Dustin last Fall.  He was able to spend his last days surrounded by the love of family and friends - isn't that all anyone could ask for?  You will be missed Uncle Ken. 

On Sunday night Dean and I had our first trip to the emergency room with Dustin.  His fever had spiked sometime after he went to bed and he started having convulsions.  It was so scary watching his little body go through that.  I was amazingly calm as was Dean.  We rushed to the hospital (and I can laugh about this now but when we arrived at the hospital I did a beautiful dismount from the truck - landing on my knees as I rushed to follow Dean and Dustin into triage.  Not too graceful am I).  Anyway, they soon got Dustin's fever down but kept us overnight just to be sure he was OK as he continued to have convulsions.  It turned out he had a viral infection in his lungs so he was also treated for that.  For anyone who has experienced this (convulsions/seizures are quite common in children with very high fevers) you know how hopeless it leaves you feeling.  Dustin is pretty much 100% now-keeping us smiling and laughing.

The outcome of the third event is still unknown.  Any dog-lovers out there know that it's almost as hard to watch your beloved pet go through pain as it is a human loved one.  Our 9 year old beagle dog Rusty displaced a disc in his back over the weekend.   Dean took him to the vet and Emma and I said good-bye not knowing if we would see him again.  Our vet and the staff at her office gave Rusty excellent care and sent him home with some medication that will hopefully help resolve the problem.  It's so hard to watch your dog not be able to walk.  We won't know for a few days if the medication is working and if it doesn't we'll be saying good-bye to Rusty for real this time.  He's such an amazing dog-man's best friend and protector of our children.

And all this happened three days before the kids and I were to leave for an Easter holiday in Nova Scotia.  Our vacation has proceeded as planned and I'm looking forward to the feeling of renewal and blessings that Spring and the Easter season brings.

I thank all our friends and family for their support this week.  We don't know what we would do without you!

~Elizabeth