I wrote a story for The River Journal about a set of local triplets (two girls and a boy) 14 years ago.
Last night, while Bill and I were enjoying a celebratory meal at Mick Duffs, the triplets' father came over to our table to say hello and to update us on his life as the father of triplets.
He was holding a bag of take-out meals and planning to meet up with them at their practice and transport them somewhere else.
They would eat their dinner during transport.
While we visited, I told Clint that our triplets would be 23 today. Our triplets include two grand nieces and one grand nephew: Grace, Iusitina and Jacob.
Like the Sandpoint triplets, these young people, with an extended family in Samoa, have provided their mom and dad a unique and always interesting story about parenting.
And, of course, all their aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. have adored the experience of having the three of them in the family.
Over the years, they have all followed their collective paths but each has also set off on their own unique journey.
Seems like that's the way it should be, and it seems that we are all proud of them and, of course, that we all love them very much.
So, Happy Birthday times THREE to Jacob, Grace and Iusitina (that order in the photo below).
We wish you the best and we still savor the moments we get to spend with each of you.
Have a wonderful day.
In the text above, I mentioned a celebratory dinner.
I enjoyed a BLT and crinkle fries while Bill had a Philly cheese-steak sandwich. Plus, I drank a beer--a Paddler ale.
This was a big deal because yesterday I had finally learned what's been bugging my gut for several months.
The information is now in my "permanent folder" pictured below. I learned that, overall, I had passed my recent colonoscopy test 'cept for one anomaly.
No cancer, no problems with the suspect enlarged appendix that had sent me to the ER in January, a couple of polyps removed and some other cosmetic stuff which is done only in the gut by the skilled hands of a local surgeon.
The report showed only one wrong answer on the whole test, and, for a change, it was a most welcome answer.
I have collagenous or microscopic colitis.
It is curable, though for the amount of time I may have had it over the years, the doctor said that might be a challenge.
Still, there is medicine in the form of steroids that seems to do the trick with allowing patients to have their lives back.
I don't know for sure if this "demon" (yes, it's an evil, persistent demon) has been in my system for the more than 40 years that I've learned the location of every bathroom possible OR if it came on after my bout with ugly c.diff infection back in September.
What I do know, however, is that it has been a miserable six months and that it has taken every ounce of inspiration each day AND ongoing support of family and friends and medical professionals for me to deal with the unfun prospects of how much time of each day would be spent in the bathroom.
It was a poignant moment a few weeks ago when my daughter Annie said, "Mom, I've never known you when you didn't have stomach problems."
This winter was not fun missing most of my son's basketball games. Once we started planning our recent family trip to Ireland, I was sure that the family would have to go without me.
Happily, the step-by-step ruling out of some major maladies opened the door for me to use over-the-counter meds to help make it through the trip (the best trip ever).
And, the family----they have provided the most powerful meds of all, as have several dear friends.
It's called understanding and sticking with someone who hates more than anything to feel like a "high maintenance" nuisance.
To say I've been humbled and that my empathy for others and their suffering has risen several notches would be an understatement.
The unknowns over those months did a number on both my mind and body.
Thirty pounds lost with no explanation and several attempts at diets (many feeling like starvation diets) to determine if I was dealing with a food intolerance.
In my mind, it seemed that no matter what I tried with diets, the problem prevailed, but in these drawn-out processes to find answers, one must give possibility a chance.
Through this all, I have gained an ever-increasing respect and appreciation for the folks in the world of medicine who do whatever possible to find the answers.
My neighbor Tricia is included in that group because she has patiently listened and guided me through some dark times.
Paige Russell and Dr. Hannah Robbins and their staffs have stayed the course. They've also been demanding when I needed it AND have added some rich new snippets of good humor which may appear some day if I write a humorous approach to this segment of my life.
Today I'll start on a regimen for collagenous colitis and hope for the best. Plus, life is looking pretty bright again. Amazing what a definitive answer can do for the mind.
Thanks to all for friendship, love and prayers answered.
And, now it's time to start this new chapter of life and bring the horses home to the Lovestead.
Happy Wednesday.
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