It's Sunday morning and it's quiet.  Everyone is still asleep and it's overcast.  My very favorite part of my week is right now.  No...I don't long for solitude (well...sometimes), and no, I don't wish I was in a quiet house all the time (well...sometimes).  But these few minutes are what's best for me.  I can sit and drink my coffee with no television on, just sitting and listening the outdoor sounds from the front door being open to let in the wonderfully cool air (it's in the 60's!), and let out the smell of dog pee on the rug.  Which totally reminds me that I need to rent a steam cleaner today. 

This week has been very emotional.  As you all know, Jack, our little Super Hero who is kicking the daylights out of his cancer, is home from his stem cell transplant and is getting back to his routine.  My sister Nikki is there helping out with everything so that she can be there for Braden while Laurie shuttles Jack to endless clinic and doctor appointments during the week.  Anyway - with the stem cell transplant came an order for everyone who has school aged children to keep away from Jack until day +100 - due to Jack's fragile immunity while his cells rebuild themselves.  Yesterday was day +22.  I can't see him for 78 days and it's killing me. 

On Thursday of this week, I was at a local salon getting a pedicure...my first since Momma B, Leigh-Leigh and I indulged ourselves about 4 or 5 months ago.  So, I was paying my friend who owns the salon - and who also happens to give great pedicures - when a total stranger walked up to me.  She touched my arm and told me, "I just want you to know that I pray for your nephew every day."  If a baseball bat had hit me across the side of the head, I would have been less surprised.  I just stood there with my hand pressed to my chest looking at her, and she continued, "Every day I wake up and I ask myself, 'How's my baby doing today?', and I get on the blog to see if there's been an update."  She commented how cute Jack is...how she admires my sister and Zac so much for their strength...how stunned she was to read about Braden and his heart issues in addition to Jack's cancer...  The entire time she is speaking to me, it was almost like I was standing next to myself watching our encounter.  I can't really explain it...I was listening to her, hearing the blood WHOOSH in my ears, and at the same time it was like everything was knocked off-kilter.  Of course the tears came...and all I told her was, "Thank you," over and over again.  She patted my arm and I told her thank you one more time and almost ran out the door.  I forgot to ask her who she was, how she heard about Jack...but does it really matter?  All that matters is that is one more person who is praying for him and thinking about him. 

The whole encounter threw me off for the rest of the day.  I was thrilled that she said what she said - but at the same time it was just one more thing that makes this whole nightmare real.  Later that evening after I got the kids into bed and while Scott was still in school, I sat down to check Facebook.  I am a member of the Facebook page titled, "Oprah - Please do a show on Childhood Cancer".  It's an amazing movement to try and get the same attention for childhood cancer as more "mainstream" cancers such as breast cancer.  Everyone knows pink is breast cancer...but not many know that gold is childhood cancer.  Anyway, so I was on their page and the members were going crazy talking about a video that the creator of the page had made that appeals to Oprah to please listen.  On a side note - you may be asking yourself...Oprah??  But really, people listen to this woman.  I was watching the video and getting teary eyed again...it's really a very emotional and informative video stating the stunning facts about how mis-funded childhood cancer research truly is...when photos of children with cancer started slowly flashing by the screen.  At the 2:17 mark Jack flashed across my screen.  Our Jack.  This is a national video for a national movement and Jack flashed across the screen.  There was the baseball bat to the side of my head for the second time in a day.  The pride you feel at seeing our happy boy smiling so hugely on the video cannot be described...but again, there's that reminder.  Not that I don't realize what's going on - I'm not saying that at all.  My sister and Zac live with this daily, I realize all of this.  I don't know how to describe it, really.  Just a definite conflict of emotions.  So, I saw him flash across the screen, and I can't believe my gasp didn't wake the kids, it was that loud.  I've watched the video over and over, of course pausing it when it gets to 2:17. 

Like I said...I've got 78 days to wait. 

If you are on Facebook...please click to join this group, "Oprah, Please do a show on Childhood Cancer, Our kids need your help"

Please look for Jack in this video at 2:17...please pass it along to everyone you know.  Tell them to read the words, tell them that our kids need the recognition.