Just RK

Tricia at Unringing the Bell had a cool idea. Since October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and it's always more fun in the blogging world when bloggers actually blog, there's a bunch of us that are going to put up one post every day this month. So check out her blog and the list there of all that are participating if you want to join us or just get in some good reading. It won't all be Down syndrome stuff, but I'm going to try to use it to organize some of my stories and thoughts around the time that it all first came into my life.

I haven't forgotten about this blog, but it's fallen to the side a little as I'm having trouble keeping up with much of anything lately. I have some major life decisions that must be dealt with, a house that's in desperate need of maintenance and cleaning, and plenty of other less daunting things, but I'm not accomplishing much toward any of those things... but hopefully soon. A plan is in place for a few changes, so we'll see how that goes over the next couple weeks. In the meantime, I'm spending my days trying to get enough fluids in Braska to keep her hydrated without overfilling her belly. (FYI...in case you don't follow her blog , we did go through with the G-tube procedure two weeks ago today.) It's hard to know how much she needs since she gives no cues, just sits there and talks while we put the milk right into the stomach. She's still sleeping well, which is a blessing, so that's good. In between milk feedings, I work with her on or...

Tuesday evening we went to the visitation for BT. We arrived at our church at 5:30p. It is quite a large place, keep in mind. The parking lot was almost full, looking like it does on a Sunday morning when more than 1200 people are in the building. The visitation was slated to go from 4 to 7 pm. When we arrived, there were probably 200 people in line before us. The line was coming from the "big room" or auditorium where the family was at the front near the stage, all along the side, out the door, around the classrooms that line the outer walls of the big room, and down a long hallway. I couldn't believe it. I've never seen anything like it. A huge line of generally quiet people, just standing. Many not talking, some greeting those around them that were familiar. We were fortunate to walk in with another couple, friends of ours, so we had someone to chat with as we waited. Every few minutes the line would shuffle forward some. But there was a fairly constant stream of p...