First Grade Coming...

On Thursday I came home early to attend the open house for Bella's elementary school, since she's going to be a big First Grader. We met her teacher, found her locker, and had some good playtime in the playground. Bella was her usual nervous, reserved self in the situation, and Isaac was his usual gregarious self. On the playground, he found a neighbor friend, Amelia, who is just a little younger than he is. He shadowed her around the playground, making sure she could get up the ladders and down the slides. He waited at the bottom of one slide for her, and and she came down, he helped her off and said "Great Job, MeeLeeAh"

You already know about Friday... Saturday was a lazy day with a lot less going on, as we collectively passed out. Papa set up a giant blue tarp over the swing set, and kids have been in it every waking minute - everyone loves a fort.

Today we went out to the Arboretum after a nice pancake breakfast and wandered around the beauty. We lingered by the waterfall, and appreciated the flowers still in full bloom. Isaac and Bella had fun under the big oak tree in the nature play area they have set up in the education area, and we ran into a friend of Bella's from kindergarten, whose mom let us know a sad bit of news she had just learned:

One of Bella's classmates from last year, who is also in her classroom this year, was diagnosed just Friday with brain cancer. The kid is 6 years old, and woke up Friday with half of his face limp. They rushed to urgent care and an MRI later discovered that he has a tumor. It had been growing for who knows how long, and finally impacted a nerve cluster, and left untreated it would shut down more and more parts of his body. Unfortunately, survival rates for this sort of thing are very low (a 25% chance of surviving 12 months and a 10% chance of long term survival).

We're all really hoping for the best - he just started an aggressive radiation and chemo regimen, which will take all his time for 6 weeks, then they're hoping to be able to let him come to school... be with friends and play. It'll be an interesting year, and no matter how this turns out, these kids are all going to learn things about the world that most adults don't need to learn for many years.

I find it sad and amazing that in one week I learn that one kid Bella's age is surviving with a new heart in her body, and another boy her age woke up with a lump in his brain that could end his life. And I look at Bella and think of all the stories I've told about her, and all the stories I hope to tell, and all the stories I hope she tells me... and it makes me hold her that much closer.