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Thankful

When you live far away from family, as we do, emergency situations can be very hard. Who do you call to help out? What do you do? Who do you turn to when Grandma and Grandpa and Grand-Papa are a nine hour drive away (and I know my mom’s heart hurts to be so far away. Love you Mom!)?

Thankfully for my boys and me, my family in Pennsylvania is incredible. And by family, I don’t imply genetics. 

If this starts to sound like an acceptance speech, I’m ok with that. When Benjamin was hurt at the park on Sunday, a whole bunch of people stepped-up, helped-out, and made an awful, painful situation much, much more bearable. They deserve my thanks.

So, here is all that I am thankful for:

I am thankful to my wonderful friend Kim, who was a rock of support throughout. She took care of Nicholas at the park, texted me throughout the ER visit with encouraging words, and was the first to offer to watch Nicholas while I took Benjamin to the dentist. In fact, she completely rearranged her day on Monday, picked Nicholas up at 9:30 a.m. and treated him to an amazing play-date with her sons, spoiling him rotten, and sparing him having to see his brother’s teeth pulled. Friends do not come better than Kim.

I am thankful to my neighbor, Mrs. P. (remember P is for Poppins!) who dropped all of her Sunday evening plans at a moment’s notice to take care of Nicholas, while Pierre and I took care of Benjamin. Nicholas had a blast with Mrs. P.  She played with him, taught him, fed him, tucked him in, and treated him as her own. He is one of her boys. He was full-out loved, and I had one less child to worry about, able to focus all my thoughts on Benjamin in the ER.

I am thankful to all my girlfriends. Their texts and phone calls and offers for help made me realize what an incredible support system I have in Pennsylvania. How did I get so blessed to have such wonderful women in my life?

I am thankful to the doctors and nurses, technicians and dentists that we have seen over the past few days. They answered all of my questions, Pierre’s questions, and most importantly, Benjamin’s questions. He wanted to know how each and every button and machine in the ER and dentist’s office worked. Each professional that we met stopped, and took time to give Ben the explanations that he was looking for, while treating and fixing his mouth.

And finally, when Benjamin first crashed into the bench, I was amazed at the number of people who stepped forward to offer us help. One mom ran to get Ben a bottle of water. Another dad found us an ice-pack. We were given tissues and napkins, and even offered a towel, which would easily have been ruined. Several others came over to ask if there was anything we needed or anything that they could do. All within the span of 10 minutes. I’ll probably never see these individuals again. There is no way to repay them. But I promise, I will pay it forward.

And of course, my family is awesome…calling, checking-in, sending love and warmth from Montreal. And only a phone call away. I’m thankful for a good long-distance plan too.

Seems like a lot of people to thank for a few pulled teeth, but here’s the thing: they were my son’s pulled teeth. I felt every one. Benjamin felt them a whole lot more. But our friends and family made the healing a whole lot easier.

Thank you!

xo Naomi

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