Gym

Today as I walked out of the gym I heard some wailing sound, I couldn't understand what it was and as I got closer to it I realized that a woman was crying unconsolably and the man with her was trying to help her through it.

As I was walking past her I slowly started praying to let her grieve and free herself of whatever was causing the pain.

The gym is one crazy place... if you are going through an emotional rollercoaster then you don't need a shrink, just go take a yoga class and you will end up crying once you are done. I might get through the entire class and just as we have to do our last pose of resting peacefully with your eyes close it will all come up and before I know I'm crying. I just stay there and cry and thentake a deep breath say my namaste and then roll up my mat and leave. Suddenly I have a big smile on my face. I don't understand these feelings and I really don't need to analyze them so I just let them be.

Last week when I went completely out of control with my feelings I realized that it is really important to let go of ones feelings once in a while. Let the floodgates open and cry as much as you want and can... you can't cry forever. Once you are done, you do feel lighter. 

Talking Doctor

I just talked with Amaey's talking doctor and asked he what her last conversation with Amaey was about--

She looked through her notes and said, her last conversation was on September 12, 2011. Amaey was very happy to be going home today. All he wanted to do was walk around in his house, jump on his bed, and he hoped that his brother did not have too much homework so that he can play with him.
She asked him about his experience in the hospital and he said that he was happy in his room before the transplant. The worst  was his headache on the day of his transplant, peg injections, and his biopsy. The two of them talked about coping mechanisms and Amaey decided he would watch cartoons on his ipad next time he had a procedure.

She said that she sees a lot of patients and Amaey was someone she looked forward to seeing because she knew he would make her laugh and show her a new toy and play music on his keyboard. She said a lot of kids that are undergoing treatment become entitled but she found Amaey to be very content and happy and he never saw himself as sick.

Which is so true of Amaey and that is why she was very surprised when I told her that when we left the hospital Amaey said bye to the hospital and said, I will never come back again. I also told her about the instance when Amaey told me that we should sue his doctor. I was so shocked that Amaey said something like that that I did not have any words come out of my mouth. For Amaey who believed that science could do miracles, someone who wanted ot work for NASA and go to Mars, what he was going through was just a blip, a passing, something that would be over and then he would move on to real scientific things.

She said she was suprised that Amaey thought about that but she understands that he must have been very angry and that was his reaction to the way things were going.

I told her that Amaey was very picky about people, when she was to meet him the first time we were not sure how he would take it and once she left and we asked him if she was ok, he said, yes, it will work out. She laughed at this and was very happy that Amaey liked her and approved of her. She thought he was a great kid.

The turtle

My friend Steph... sent this to me just as I was looking at the clock change to 9:50pm.
--
A great deal of mythology exists in regard to the turtle. In the Far East, the shell was a symbol of heaven, and the square underside was a symbol of earth. The turtle was an animal whose magic could help you unite heaven and earth within your own life. A symbol of the turtle was an invitation for the blessings of both heaven and earth.


-- You have one child in heaven and one on earth, you should adopt this symbol as your own.


Amaey's love for turtles, and all these turtles coming to meet us in Kauai were maybe there to unite Amaey with us and then take him with them. 


Steph, thank you so much for sharing this today.  Thank you!

4 months today

Yesterday was the hardest day I have had in a while. I blame it on the 2 Back to the Future movies I recently re-watched.

I wish I could change time and change what was to happen today. If only I could.... I would still have my baby here with me and this family would be genuinely happy again. If only....

But reality wants to show it's true face and rub it in our nose that life is different now.

I know the healing process is like the ebb and flow of the waves, some days will be easy and some days the tide will sweep over everything.

Unfortunately as time passes the reality that Amaey will not return is hard to bear. Each hour from yesterday and today are taking me back to Sept 25 and 26 in Tel Aviv. So much pain, so much loss, so much love.

For the first time in my entire life I cried with fear when my sister Mona called me in my hotel room at 11 something at night on the 25th. I cried that I could not take it any more. I cried that we have never asked for anything and we have done everything possible for our dear child... what more does god want from us. It just seems so unfair. And then Apurva called to say Amaey was asking for me, I should come to the hospital and I left Arjun sleeping alone in the hotel room and ran to the hospital not knowing what was really happening.
But he looked calm. It felt like the tide might pass. He was looking comfortable for the first time in many hours. We had been through this, in the ambulance in 2010, we had been through this in the ICU in 2009. This was no different. Maybe Amaey will come out of it. He alwasy did. So I sent Apurva to the hotel to sleep and come back again in the morning with Arjun. But in a few hours I had to call both of them to the hospital... and now I cannot change what has happend. I never will be able to.

I love you Amaey, wherever you are, I hope you know that you are truly and dearly loved. 

Dil Aakhir tu kyun rota hai (heart why are you crying)

I watched this Bollywood movie on my way back from India. There are a few poems interspersed in the movie and one really spoke to me. It was a fun movie and well made, I did not expect to be in tears while watching it... but I don't expect to be in tears when I hear science news and quest on radio either.

An english translation is in this poem

http://youtu.be/qPvthTYiWoI

Jan 22

Davina gave me a card along with a cd when we left for Kauai to scatter Amaey's ashes. Since we had to pre-pone the service I did not get a chance to read the card and then I just could not find it. Today we were cleaning the house and I found it... It was meant to be for today because today I'm missing Amaey a lot. Today is the 22nd, we were packing to leave for Israel. That day in September was a stark difference from today. Today it's just Arjun and me in the house, a very quiet house. On that day we had a house full of close family and friends that were helping us pack with a very heavy heart and a lot of hope.

Reading this card brought some calmness in my turbulent heart.

Here is the card--

When cherished ties are broken, and the chain of love is shattered, only trust and strength of faith can lighten the heaviness of the heart. At times, the pain of separation seems more than we can bear, but if we dwell too long in our loss, we embitter our hearts and harm ourselves and those about us.

The Palmist said that in his affliction, he learned the law of god. And in truth, grief is a great teacher, when it sends us back to serve and bless the living. We learn how to counsel and comfort, those like ourselves who need comfort and are bowed with sorrow. We learn to keep silent in their presence and when a word would assure them of our love and concern.

Even when they are gone, the departed are with us, moving us to live as, in their higher moments, they themselves wished to live. We remember them now; they live in our hearts; they are an abiding blessing.

May his memory be a blessing.

Block

My friend Raj was asking me why I haven't writen anything on the blog for a while... It has been hard because so much is going on. In India we were really busy with Apurva's dad being in the hospital. I could not enter the hospital and I did not go to visit him but Apurva fell sick and I had to do the day shift. First day killed me....
But then I had enough time to go over things in my head and rationalize. The next few days became a bit easy.

It seems like I'm in a phase where I'm inside myself now. Instead of emotions coming out they are staying inside and I'm trying to figure out how to live and how to move ahead and how to keep going without breaking down. This has proved to be very tiring and exhausting for sure. But much needed.

Apurva has had to be in India and that has been very hard. He was in India for a month and then came back with me and had to go back in a week because his dad's health became critical. On Jan 16, his dad passed away in the ICU. Apurva said that when they removed his ventilator it almost seemed like his dad had a smile like he had seen something.... Apurva said that during the 4 hours he sat with his dad in the room after he had passed away he had several visions of Amaey and his dad deep in conversations. He said it was so real that he cannot express himself. Amazingly, he had that same vision 4 times.

In a strange way, yes I can see Amaey and his dada deep in a conversation. The two of them were so similar, so intense, so single minded.

Farewell Ammudada. We know that Amaey and you will take care of each other.

Compassionate friends

My friend Sonal suggested that I check this site. She said that their facebook page was a good resource... I already started receiving some poems that I like and can relate to. I was looking for resources for Arjun and like this poem they had on their site http://www.compassionatefriends.org

Siblings Walking Together

(Formerly the Sibling Credo)

We are the surviving siblings of The Compassionate Friends.
We are brought together by the deaths of our brothers and sisters.
Open your hearts to us, but have patience with us.
Sometimes we will need the support of our friends.
At other times we need our families to be there.
Sometimes we must walk alone, taking our memories with us,
continuing to become the individuals we want to be.
We cannot be our dead brother or sister;
however, a special part of them lives on with us.
When our brothers and sisters died, our lives changed.
We are living a life very different from what we envisioned,
and we feel the responsibility to be strong even when we feel weak.
Yet we can go on because we understand better than many others
the value of family and the precious gift of life.
Our goal is not to be the forgotten mourners that we sometimes are,
but to walk together to face our tomorrows as surviving siblings of
The Compassionate Friends.

3 months

Time seems to be taking it's own sweet time... It feels like a lifetime but it's only been three months. 
Being here in India right now is very helpful. Nobody here knows what Amaey has been through, nobody has an idea about our last 6 years or about our intense last five months. 

Life and death has a very different meaning here. It's all gods will. Maybe it was his time, maybe that was all the time he was given, maybe his journey with us was only for so long. The thinking is so simple. (it does sound much beter and philosophical when heard in Gujarati or Hindi) God plays such a big part of life here. Nothing is done without god being involved in it. 

Is this blind devotion or way of life? I believed in god too. In my own way I prayed, went to temples, churches, or any dwelling that gave me the peace I needed. Something my sister Dipti said is still stuck in my mind, "When I got Amaey's shocking news I was in the temple as it was Monday and i go to temple before going to the office. I asked the question why? I kept on asking this question and I got the same answer that you always prayed to get him well and let him be out of pains. I think lord only heard the second part."

I still do believe in god but the connection I felt is lost. When I see any god I just have one question, why? And then I start crying. I don't have anything to say or ask I just want to understand the why. I'm searching for that answer everywhere. When I'm driving, walking, talking, or just drifting... There is a spiritual channel on TV here and I find myself flipping channels and landing on that channel in hopes that I will hear the answer to my why.

It's still hard for me to accept gods verdict. 

The Arabian Sea

On Dec 10 we had all of Amaey's best friends over. It was very touching to see the love in that room. We each lit a candle and then some of the kids played an instrument and then I played Amaey's last concert performance.
All the kids sat in a circle and each of them told us what Amaey meant to them and what reminded them of him.
Some of the children had already written a note for him and the remaining sat and wrote and drew something for him.

Yesterday, December 24 we went to Hajiali, a very well known and auspisious mosque in Mumbai and made boats out of all the notes and set them free in the Arabian sea. This mosque is in the middle of the sea with a path that is only accessible during low tide. The waves of the sea crash onto the rocks and steps surrounding the mosque. Apurva's sister Swati, her husband Ashish, and daughter Meera were with us too. Of course Sir Hoppy Bun Bunz was with us too. Amaey's favorite didi is in Mumbai too, Aditi didi and we were supposed to call her before we left early at 8am but none of us remembered. I think we were all grieving in our head in our own ways and just could not think about anything. We are still here for a few more days and we hope to go and do something special with her for Amaey.

Releasing these boats with messages to Amaey makes us feel close to him and makes us feel like he is reading all the special messages we send him. I love to see birds take off and the waves crash at us when we are thinking of him. I feel like he is there... I can feel him.

SFO to Mumbai

The flight from San Francisco to Mumbai was hard. I could see Amaey everytime I closed my eyes. Our flight to Tel Aviv came vividly back to me. I kept seeing him sleeping and an internal tension brewing inside me. I did not think that a journey we had embarked on would be cut so short.

I did not know what a panic attack felt like, what anxiety attack meant. I have never felt claustrophobic before. All I wanted was for the plane to land in Mumbai. All I wanted was for this journey to end, the plane to stop and to run away as far as I could. I just wanted to go home. I had such a headache and could not shake it off. I was bad company for Arjun. He kept asking if I was fine and I kept hoping it will get fine but 16hrs later it still wasn't. I use to love going on journeys, longer the better. I loved the freedom I felt from being in the sky, seeing the different formations of the clouds, catching a rare glimpse of a sunset and a sunrise. Being able to get the most beautiful view of the world below, dazzling lights of a fleeting city in the night sky, and sometimes, just vast expanses of nothingness.

But not this time. This time I was hugging sir hoppy bun bunz and thinking about the various flights we had taken as a family.

I will have to find a way to get over this fear of flying because Amaey's bucket list is long and exotic - LegoLand, New York, Greece, Egypt... to name a few.

Perhaps...

When I wrote about the family of 4... no 3, I received a few emails and insights and they made me realize that loss comes in many ways. Death is not the only way to loose someone or something.

I took permission from my sister to share this on my blog.


If i said that i can feel how you feel then it will not be true because only a parent/parents who have lost their child who is their heart/soul/life would feel it but I could say that I honestly can understand your pain. I don't know if it is right or wrong for what I am going to say but when I say i understand your pain what I mean is when I read your mail where you had written family of 4 and not 3 I could not stop myself from thinking about myself. Yes by the grace of GOD my beloved SON is healthy and happy and I always pray every night to god that may he always be healthy and happy but it has been 16 months since I last spoke to him and 14 months since I have seen him and I also feel my family is of 3 and not 4 and beleive me it is killing. The pain is such that you cannot show it but you feel it and it is there with every breath you take. Yes you do not stop living but that does not mean you stop thinking and loving the person any less. 
One thing I make sure I do is if I want to cry i do cry. On Fridays when I am at home I have a good cry and for a while it feels good. Maybe for me my pain is a bit different because for the past 2 and a half years my son was making me feel like a failure and that was killing me. But one day I was sitting and don't know what it was but I said to mysellf that I was being very harsh and unfair to myself. I know I am not the best parent and never have said so but I have tried to be a good parent and have done my best to raise my children as good human beings and I should not be too harsh to myself. 
The way things are I have convinced myself that as far as I am alive my son is never going to want to know me and I also know for a fact that I am not going to get the chance till I am alive to see his child/ren and believe me it has not been easy to do this but if I am suppose to live for whatever years I have to then I have to stop living on hope and face the facts.

Loss is universal, no one owns it. Everyone feels it in their own ways for different things. What might seem trivial to one might be a huge loss for someone else... the emptiness, the huge gaping hole, can be made by anything. I wish the living would not hurt each other in such a way. I wish the living would slow down and stop hurting the people they love most.

Sharing the smile and the wit

This is Amaey in true sense. Every day and everything he did was with the same love and intensity... didn't matter if he was in the hospital room waiting to be wheeled for a procedure or make custom music for his brothers lego movie.

Here are some links of the boys jamming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXTpJ7O_U84&feature=related

Here Arjun was the director and knew exactly what he was looking for and Amaey knew exactly how to create what his brother wanted. Amaey made the original music played in this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x6exXwKU50&feature=related

The Warriors

When you become pregnant you start noticing pregnant women... Everywhere. Seems like it is an epidemic.

When you become a cancer family, you start hearing about people diagnosed with cancer. People come up and talk with you about tales of friends, family, distant relatives. Their cancer, their journey, their magic potions that miraculously cured them.
You are enlisted in an 'invited' only list.

When you loose a child, you become a part of yet another group. You suddenly hear about families who have lost the battle. About freak accidents, about tragedies beyond words. About loss that is so deep that suddenly your loss is made to feel weak.

But what is worse than death of a child? Whether it is a known cause, an accident, an illness, birth, genetic, or what have you. What really can be worse than loosing your child. Even in grief we human beings want to one up each other. My story is worse than yours or more tragic than yours... Really can one put a ratio or percentage on tragedy and loss? Can I not own the sole proprietorship on the loss of my child? Can I not make myself feel like I don't need to compare and made to feel better like the doctor once told me that if you were out shopping for cancer, the one Amaey had was the best one we could have selected?

We human beings are cowards as such. We always look for the bright side in everything. At least it's ALL, it could have been worse. When it got worse, we say at least he is back home from the hospital and does not have to be bed ridden like many other kids. At least he can go to school few days a week. You hear of a family breaking up and you go, at least we made it through all of this intact. Suddenly you hear about a parent loosing a child and you go at least they have few other kids in the family. You meet a family who has only one child and they say to you, at least you have another healthy child with you. You loose your only child and in a few months your life partner.... What do you say? At least I'm alive and able to keep living?

The only lesson I remember from Darwin if of survival of the fittest and I have used it on my kids several times... But now when I look around, see some dear friends walking boldly through life with a ghost following them everywhere, I wonder WTF survival of the fittest really means?

A friend lost her daughter 3 years ago, my dear dear friend lost her son 2 years ago, another friend lost her daughter a year ago. All of these friends have shared words of reason and reached out to me and I'm so grateful to them. I call them warriors. Warriors who have seen more in life, beyond their young years. I call them Warriors who are part of the human survival of the fittest experiment. I call them Warriors grieving and healing and picking up and moving on in their way. Am I honored to be invited in this esteemed Warriors club? I wish I didn't have to be but now that I'm a part of this club I will respect their loss and many more losses to come and pray that each loss is given the dignity it deserves. Every child leaves a mark on your life. You don't have an eraser strong enough to erase it or a whiteout that can cover it. The mark is made for a purpose, to teach us to live our fullest and enjoy what we have, when we have it. Because once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Quiet

I had planned to run away to my friends house in Massachusetts as soon as my parents left for the east coast on the 30th. But I should have known that things don't work that way... I did not want to be alone after my parents left. They were here in my house before we got back from Israel. They have been here for us during the hardest times of our life these past 2 months.
We did not really do much but just their presence was enough. Having somebody other then the 3 of us had different energy in the house.
My parents are amazing. They are so alive and full of life. My mom loves to cook, did I say LOVES to cook! That is her passion and she keeps her self busy in that. Cooking food immersed in her love helping us heal little at a time.
My dad is just a naturally friendly person. He has so many friends. He is on the phone all the time. Calling friends and relatives all around the world. Catching up with all his kids every day.
My dad and mom would have little fights, and fun and crazy arguments.

So once they would leave I would be by myself in the house with Apurva at work and Arjun at school so I thought about going away for 5 days. But Apurva had to leave for India and now my parents are gone too and I'm still here... in the house.

Yesterday I was out the entire day, did not come home until Arjun was back. I went to Skylawn and spent some time where Amaey had his funeral 2 months ago. I sat on the rocks and looked out where you can see the ocean. There were some beautiful schools of birds in various transformations.
But today, I'm enjoying my alone time. I really needed it. I really needed this quietness. At lunch I found myself sitting in that one spot Amaey would... by the window where the sun would streak in. The only spot in the whole living room where he would be able to soak up all the sun. I happened to find just that spot and did not realize what I was doing until I sat on the floor and then had to close my eyes because the sun was too strong, I suddenly started smiling.

I really need this alone time to just take in everything... I know each day is different and will bring different feelings, but I'm not scared of that. I feel like a big experiment of human survival. I want to see how I get out of this strong and happy. I want to remember Amaey with a smile on my face. I want to think about him and feel warmth and happiness. 

Kauai

When we had to prepone the ash scattering service from 25th to 22nd, I was really mad. Really mad. I haven't been mad in a while. I felt cheated of my days with my baby. I had to give him up sooner than I would have liked.

Now in hindsight, I'm happy we did it when we did, it gave me more time to process while I was still there in Kauai. I did not end up bringing all my anxieties and questions back with me. I do not feel like I deserted my child.

The day of November 22 was dark and rainy. The only day it really rained while we were there. On one hand we were worried about Apurva's dad. On the other hand, I just received an email from a friend who lost her husband just 3 months after the passing of her son. I was in a state of shock. Unbelievable, aren't these things only for movies and high melodrama soaps?

As we made our way to Poipu to pick up flowers and sign all the waivers, the sun was coming out. By the time we got to the dock it had completely cleared out into a beautiful island day. The captain asked us where we wanted to go and Apurva asked to go out in the open ocean somewhere where we could find Honu's. The captain knew just the place and off we went with Amaey on my lap. When we moored we were totally surprised to see Honu's all around us. We could see them swimming and disappearing. As we started to put some petals in the water a baby Honu came swimming towards our boat. It was this beautiful turtle, not afraid of coming close. Then we scattered Amaey's ashes and the ocean seemed to open up to take him in. One by one we placed all our paper boats with messages. More petals and.... He was one with the ocean.
The sun was slowly setting and we sat down at the open deck and watched the sun set in the horizon with Omar Sossa's Sunrise and Sunset piano performance from his CD Calma. This was Amaey's favorite CD. http://omarsosa.com/discog.php

I felt like he was leaving me. I cried and cried. All of us did. Arjun, Apurva, my parents and I were just touching each other in silence, reveling at nature, the world around us, what we had just done and witnessed.

When we finally got ready to go back to the harbor we saw more honu's and realized that we were right opposite the hotel we had stayed at with Amaey on our last few trips there. I guess certain things are just meant to be...

This was such an emotional experience. So beautiful, so real, so heart wrenching.

One with the ocean

Kauai, the garden isle. Kauai the most beautiful place to be. Amaey wanted his ashes scattered here.
Today we will go on a boat, out to sea and send him off on his last journey.
Initially our plan was to do the service on the 25th on his 2mth anniversary but apurva's dad is in the ICU in India...

Our baby will swim with his honus and dolphins...

Family of 4 no 3

We miss him, we miss him so very much.

The balance of our family is completely gone. It was never supposed to be a family of 3, no it was always supposed to be the 4 of us. We are so incomplete without Amaey. Cooking is too easy, there is no complaining. Arjun is an angel, he always was the easy going one, anything flies. He will let us know if he does not like what is for dinner but he will still eat it and enjoy it. That would have never been the case with Amaey, why are we eating indian food every single day? so what if grandparents are here why do I have to eat this every day? 

Ok, what do you want to eat today... and suddenly he will be off on my iphone checking the allrecipes.com app or the food network. Amaey it is already 5:30 and I have had a busy day and I really don't want to be making something from scratch. In one ear, out the other... how about linguine in pesto sauce with grilled shrimp, he would look up with his glasses sitting on his nose and the wide smirk on his face and the cute dimples on his cheek. How could anyone say no to that face.

That is what we miss, the troublemaker, the one that questioned our authority, the one that got lots of nuggies from his brother, got chased around with a sword, the one that was the cause of endless hours of screaming and negotiating in the house. The one that ruffled his brother and then started shouting not fair when he was being pestered.

Should we have another child? Sure we are still young. There are plenty families that have kids at our age. Or should we adopt? Or should we get a dog?

How does one move on, how does one keep living with this huge gapping hole in the core of your life. You can't replace this loss. Nothing can really fit in those shoes. So how do you find meaning?

Everyone keeps telling me to go back to work. Find a job, go do what you use to do before. You were so good at what you did before, we are sure you will get right into it. Really? Do you know that I quit my high powered creative director job in 2005? Whatever I did before was 6 years ago not yesterday. and now it's not even been 2 months since my life has changed, once again and everyone expects that I will walk into an ad agency or a media firm and get the creative directors job because I was so good at it. I know everyone has really good intentions when they say  that to me. I know they all mean well and they really know that if I don't find something to do I will go crazy. But it all just sucks.

You know what I want to do? I want to get to gether with my close friends and talk about Amaey. I want to remember him. I want to cry. Why are people so scared to do that. Why are they always asking if we have moved on, if we are putting our lives back together. What is the hurry? Will we ever move on? Will our lives ever be together? I sure do hope so. I do want to move on, I sure do want to keep myself busy and find something meaningful and useful to do with my life. I do want to pick up the pieces and stitch the life back but I haven't found all the pieces yet. I haven't found the pieces to patch the hole yet.

My friend

My friend told me that she admired my being so open on my final personal moments with Amaey. That really got me thinking...

I have never seen death so close ever in my life before. I haven't even been remotely interested in knowing or finding out even if someone had ever talked about it. Having been with Amaey as he was leaving us was almost like having a conversation with your child when he is ready to leave for college or with your daughter before she walks down the aisle.

It was a very personal moment but a very troubling and heartbreaking one at the same time. I could not get it out of my head. I could not believe that I had really gone through this in my lifetime. I did not know what I was writing when I sat down to write and when the words came pouring out I realized that I was writing for Amaey. I wanted to let him know what happend. I wanted to let him know that we were there, with him, the whole time.

Is there an afterlife? Yes I do believe in afterlife, I believe our soul moves on, we are reborn and then the cycle of life starts again. Are we always born as a human? I don't know. But whereever Amaey is, and I think he is already plotting some fun with Steve Jobs, I want him to know that we were there, as he had planned, we were there with him the whole time. I don't have any expectations from him, I want him to be free. 

Last Night

Last night as we were getting ready for bed, I received a text. Suddenly I hear a huge sigh from Apurva. I have heard the sigh over the past month and I have sighed the same way so I knew exactly what was going on BUT I did not know what came to his mind.

He told me that the beep from the text brought back memories of those days we spent living close to our phone. Apurva and I alternated staying in the hospital and everynight and first thing in the morning whoever was with Amaey texted a synopsis, the lay of the land as one saw it. Most of the time we left details unsaid. We did not want the person at home to worry. We needed that person to recharge and be ready for the next day.

We texted each other everytime a nurse would bring in new directions, Amaey would sleep, not sleep, a doctor would stop by. At some point we were obsessed with fevers. Does he have a fever? Check it again after 15 minutes. Make sure he is not under double sheets. Is he under double sheets? It's hovering at borderline, oh it's almost 38. Phew it's 37.9.

The bweep of the text was enough for us to drop everything and focus on what might come next.