Hand It Over!

What a celebration around here today. It all started last night, Jeff and Coleman were downstairs calling it a day and Spen and I came upstairs to hit the hay. I was so tired that I thought I was asleep before I hit the pillow.

It was about 12:30 and Spence said, "Mom, I'm getting a chill in my hands." I told him to see how hard he could squeeze my hand and I was shocked at his grip. He kept talking about it and honestly, I was half asleep and he gripped my hand again about 5 minutes later. Because this was a really long time compared to other "post-chill" episodes, I asked him if he wanted me to cut on the light. He asked for a notebook, so I grabbed mine from the nightstand and found a pen in my stupor. I have to say that the minutes that followed were some of the most rewarding in months. He could not believe it and neither could I. He started drawing a face and letters and turning the page to sketch as fast as he could - in case it "ran out." He quickly sketched the angel scene he had talked about and a man eating a slice of pizza. I watched him quietly and resorted to tears when I saw them in the corners of his own eyes. He said out loud, "Thank you God."

Embarrassingly, I admit that I watched for a long while and the last time I remember looking at the clock it was closer to 1:30. He woke me up twice in mild disgust...how could I? Needless to say, he woke up at 8:00 this morning, and was at it again. Today he has been into all the new sketch books and pencils just getting it all out. We celebrated with a sculpting contest, a Mexican lunch with Dad and he went to a special place to give a special thanks to God - that will have to be his secret.

Here's a shot of my favorite drawing from today. He's a die hard Mario and Luigi fan, so naturally, that came out too.



Coleman was absolutely exhausted this morning from a whale of a day in the pool yesterday but went back in this afternoon. He and his dad are camping out downstairs tonight and they secretly love when we leave them alone and they get into the movie channels together. I heard them listing all the movies they have to catch up on.

I told Jeff tonight that although we are sequestered from life outside our home, these have been some of the most bonding family times ever in our life. There is a part of me that admits I will miss them. Don't get me wrong, I won't miss the difficulties and feelings that we're hanging on by the one thread that once was a part of a rope, I'll miss the situation that forced us to be so tightly knit and so keenly tuned to each other...behind these four walls.