Nathaniel Steven Rankin

It seems we've always had to cope with our children being away from home on Christmas.

Rich spotted it first.  An empty bird's nest nestled in the branches. We paused. Admired. Took a photo. Considered the tree. But moved on, leaving the nest for whoever claimed the tree.

I went to court for the first time in my life yesterday. And it about did me in.

Our new baby came home on July 31, 2013. In the middle of his first night he went into respiratory distress due to a mucus plug blocking his tracheotomy tube. God used our hands to provide emergency care and preserved his life. Today we celebrate 100 days with him in our family and I celebrate by sharing a bit of our story.

he nurse knocked on the bedroom door. I had heard Nathaniel’s oximeter alarm go off prior to her knock and was already out of bed. I ran to his room. Upon entering, my eyes went to the machine recording his oxygen levels. Seventy. And then before I looked away, it dropped to forty-seven.

The nurse was bounding him up and down in her arms, ignoring his gasps for breath. "He's cold," she said. "He needs warmer pajamas." He seemed slightly blue. No maybe ash is a better color choice, I thought to myself. All the lights in the room were on, but I desperately wanted more lighting to figure out what was wrong with his coloring.

We were lying side by side on the floor in the empty bedroom when Rich whispered, “I want to submit our home study for the baby.”

She couldn't concentrate on the work and smile for the camera at the same time. Sunday night pretzels. An Uncle Rich tradition for 20 years and tonight Ellie was assigned the responsibility of helping to make dinner for everyone attending the family reunion.

I grew up as a year around resident in Lakeside, Ohio. It is one of the few existing Chautauqua in the United States and the unique setting definetly shaped who I am today.  Reflections of experiencing Lakeside, both as a summer and winter resident in my childhood and as a returning vacationer, has filled many journals.