These last few days, I've gone back over the blogs that I've written. My favorite are the earliest ones, when Kim would sit by my side and contribute, enthusiastically; "Tell them about this.." she'd say or "Have you put in this?"
She was having just a ton of blood transfusions...do they use 'tons' to measure liquids ever? I mean, the amount of blood they needed to put in this poor girl alarmed me. And Kim? I don't know - she asked "Where did this blood come from?"...our friend, Darlene, happened to be the tech giving her the transfusion that day told her the donor was from California. "Oh. You are filling me up with California sunshine!".
Darlene had stopped by the gift shop and bought Kim a bunch of magazines to pass the time. Kim was cute, she'd say "Dave, quick run over to the Vans store and pick out Cody a new hat for Christmas. And get him some socks there, too." She started sending me to get the bambini's gifts over the next few days - she wanted me to bring them up to her room, to show them to her...to make sure that she got to see them...
Praying with the priests kept her spirits up. And seeing the bambini. And all of the visitors. And I was getting well fed by Janene (who on 11/30 brought me a humongous burger from Applebees) and on 12/1 - Andrea brought me lunch and Angie dinner.
Speaking of dinner, seeing as today is Thursday, and a cold and rainy Thursday, at that - we thought it appropriate to get together at Viro's for dinner. Andrea brought all of her kids (well, we picked up David for her on our way there), Kim and Rashon and their kids came and their friend Andy joined us later. Rosa made us a special salad with fresh tomatoes, basil, onions and artichoke hearts - the presentation of her salad was beautiful and, unfortunately, my battery had died on my cell phone (Antonio had a marathon Pocket God session on the way to dinner and during!) and we went through 15 bowls of wedding soup before I lost count!! Bre was on hand to delicately hand craft me a cappuccino and a white chocolate latte for Andrea. We ended it with a round of various flavored gelato (Lexy's lime was great and Kim's tirimasu was my favorite!).
Kim and Rashon's baby girl, Maleah, sat in her carrier sleeping peacefully, even though our table was anything but quiet. She woke up once, and went right back to sleep when Andrea held her. Such a good baby, and so beautiful. I found this photo of Kim, back on 7/11/2003, with newly born Antonio...he was a good baby too. We told everyone, if we had Antonio first, we probably would have had 5!!
Autumn found this one of her and her Mama and wanted me to put it out there for you all to see. "Mama had bangs? I don't remember that." she exclaimed. "Can I keep this one?"
Things that keep us going...the memories...Kimmy's smile...Viro's with family on a cold, windy day...the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, complete with the peaches/pinks that Father Harry told us to look for...your ongoing encouragement...
Love,
Dave
'The day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness'
Luke 1:78
That is an adorable photo of little Autumn and Kim...I watched Autumn today, during the band and strings concert at school, and couldn't get over how much she looks like her mama. It hurts to think how much she must miss her mom, especially this time of year. You have been the most incredible positive influence on those kids this past year, Dave. Simply amazing.
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