Angel turns Thief

It seems that there was split “voting” on The Faces of an Angel. Your thoughts, which by the way were very kind, represent pretty much what I feel too: she was so cute in many of the shots, in different ways. Therefore, it’s hard to pick a winner, but if I was force to, I would pick this one, as some of you also did.

But as it turns out, our Angel is not always who she appears to be. I was acting Paparazzi the other day, and look what I discovered at the end of my lens.

Clara: Hmm… I would sure like to play with those marbles.

Clara: “Isak, can I play too?”
Isak: “Just wait a second, okay!”

Clara: Wow! This bag is full of them!

Clara: Okay… he’s looking away. I’ll just grab this little string here, and…

Clara: Dam-di-du-di-doh… quietly we go…
Isak: “What in the…?

Isak: “Oh, no you don’t!”
Clara: “No, no, no, no…nooooo!”

Louis: “Maybe she wouldn’t do that if you let her play with you?”
Isak: “But we we’re just in the middle of a game!”

Back to the game area.
Clara: “Mask? [This is what she calls our neighbor, Max.] Can I have a marble from you?

Max: “Sure, let me get one from my box.”
Clara: “Really! Oh, thank you!”

Max: “Here you go!”

Clara: “Thank you, Mask! At least there is one nice person here…”

What lessons can we learn from this? Don’t steal? Of course, this is fundamental. But maybe also: if the rich would share some of their wealth with the poor, maybe the poor wouldn’t be forced to steal.

Reader: “Ah, you’re just saying that to defend Clara.”
Louis: “Why, yes… of course. After all… she is my angel!”

Baby Born with Two Faces

Do you ever seize to be amazed? In India a baby girl, Lali, was born with two faces, a very rare condition knowns as craniofacial duplication. When I saw this photo I thought, “Oh no! Poor child. Poor family. How will they ever survive this enormous trail?” But then I read the article in the Chicago Tribune. I was simply awestruck. Instead of feeling “cursed” by God (or the gods), this family actually feels blessed, even believing the child to be the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess. They plan to build a temple in her honor, and people are visiting them every day bringing gifts and money. Their poor little village is now known all across the world. The other blessing is that the girl actually is doing well physically. Her parents say Lali is fine, just like any other child.

Naturally, life will be become more and more difficult for the girl as she grows up, but I am still impressed how this family has taken on this seemingly impossible challenge and turned it around; they only see their child as a blessing for the family, nothing else. Talk about a positive outlook. I hope the grace of God will continue to wrap its arms around little Lali - especially in the years ahead.

Can Evil be Fun?

No, of course not… but this “Evil Eye” is very funny!

Life is a Game

Yesterday Johannes had his first day in school after the heart surgery. He wanted me to go with him, so I took the day off from work and helped him get settled in. It went very well. He was beaming when he saw his class mates again. This will do him a lot of good, I thought.

Today he went by himself, but before I went to work, during the school’s morning break, I went over to there (we live next door) just to see that he was happy. And he was. On the way back I passed Isak and his friends in 1st grade. First Isak ran to me and jumped in my arms, and shouted, “Daaaaady!!!” Then the other kids followed. They immediately asked if I wanted to play a game with them. I smiled, partly because I love to play, but partly because I knew that it won’t take many years before our children will do anything to not have their parents show up on school grounds. How embarrassing! So why not seize the opportunity while it is still there. And work? Well… it could wait twenty more minutes. We played tag and all kinds of games I don’t even know the names of. I haven’t run so much in months. When the bell rang I was all sweaty, but happy still. It was great to be a kid again - if only for a few moments.

So… at our jobs today, let’s step away from our computers and work stations for awhile and run around with our colleagues and play tag. If nothing else, it will put a smile on our faces (seeing how silly we all shall look). But, if we are happier at work, we will work harder and better… right? Maybe even a promotion for a new bill for parliament should be in place here: at least one game per day at every place of employment.

I’ll be the first to vote on it.

A Prayer for the Heart (6)

Get ready for lots of photos!

Angelica and I have both asked Johannes and he thinks it’s okay to post these photos. We have a large family circle, and this is an easy way to let everyone see and know what’s been happening. I also know that Johannes’ friends and school mates would like to see some photos, since they have been thinking a lot about him. So here are some more images from last week.

This is Wednesday Morning. At this ultrasound examination of Johannes’ heart, the cardiologists find an inconsistency with the blood pressure in the area of the right ventricle, with it’s newly inserted contegra (the “tube” connecting the right ventricle to the lung arteries). They cannot get a correct reading, however, so a decision is made to perform a catheterisation on Thursday to be absolutely sure of what the problem is. Johannes is absolutely devastated upon hearing this news, fearing first of all to be put to sleep again for a small, yet new operation. Secondly, he is told that if the catheterisation shows there actually is a problem, then another open-heart surgery will have to take place - immediately. Being still very week from his first surgery, he now has his most difficult 24 hours of his life, fighting an emotional battle he never faced before.

Thursday morning. Johannes is sitting up for the first time, but finds little joy in that. He knows that today is the day of the catheterisation, and he’s all out of hope, thinking it will only show a bad result. Nurse Anna does her best to try to encourage him.

He spends a lot of the day resting, lying here next to a picture brother Isak made for him. It shows Johannes lying on the bed, surrounded by hearts, with Isak and Clara next to him, with tears coming from their eyes. The text says, “To Johannes from Isak. I miss you. Hugs Isak”

Late Thursday afternoon. The catheterisation is done and Johannes’ opens his eyes in the “wake-up”, next to the operating room. The first thing he asks in a whisper is if he needs a new operation. When his mother smiles and says no, he sighs and let’s out a “yeah!” in English. He’s barely awake, as seen in the photo, but very relieved.

I try to wake him up some more by playing with a surgeon’s glove. Still tired, he asks me to give it to him. He put it on and says, “Take a picture of this.” Then he makes his rock sign (he’s been into that lately). Great, I thought. He’s back!

Bed time, Thursday evening. I like this scene. Mother is looking at son, comforted in knowing that he is at peace again before closing his eyes. Son is looking at mother, comforted in knowing he’s in good hands. And the light from above, falling over him, comforts us all, knowing someone else is keeping His loving arms around Johannes.

Friday we start moving around some more. This is not a sad pictures. It’s just a tired Johannes who’s done some physical therapy, wanting to rest his weary head against his father’s.

Later the whole family comes in. Clara, who hadn’t seen her brother for a few days, was very happy. And so was Johannes. I can’t tell you how joyful we were to have him back to normal again - for his sake.

Here Johannes is trading places with his sister, who didn’t seemed to mind. Actually she loved the wheel chair, as did Isak.

All of the staff were great to Johannes, and to Isak and Clara too for that matter. Here is Maria, the youngest nurse on the floor, discussing ice hockey with the brothers. Notice Isak’s look. He was spellbound by this nurse. I told him later though that she was too old for him. His response was swift. Red in the face, trying to hide his smile, he jumps me and tries to deliver a series of punches to my upper arm. Johannes laughs, and I can’t help but think, again, that it’s good to be getting back to normal.

On Saturday some of the other fathers and I took a few of the heart child siblings aside and played with them. It’s not easy for these kids either, and they certainly don’t get the attention the heart children do. So we decided to give them some quality time. Here is one dad blowing some bubbles.

“I have two questions: How do you catch a bubble, and what do you do with it once you’ve caught it?”

“And how on earth do you make them grow?”

We took these sibling down to ground level, to what is called “Play Therapy”. There they had so many fun things that even I couldn’t resist. By the way… you can call me King Louis.

Is there a limit to how cute one can get?

…or how beautiful?

On Saturday night, Johannes and I was watching the Swedish Melodi Festival. After a while we were joined by nurses Sara and Maria. During those ten minutes Johannes talked more - or should I say jabbered - than he had the whole week put together. Hmm… can’t imagine why? Good sign though, right?

This is the only picture taken on Sunday. Actually, it was just taken recently by Isak, before I put Clara and him too bed in the guest home we are living in, next to the hospital. This night Angelica is sleeping in Johannes’s hospital room. It will probably be the last night there. Then he will get permission to come to us for a few days, in preparation to going home to Södertälje.

I can’t wait.

The Unforgetable Elves

Click on the image to see my kids magically transformed…

Winning is not Everything

Lately my sons and I have gone to quite a few hockey games to cheer on our local team, Södertälje (SSK). When we went two days ago the team lost 0-1. In fact, every time we’ve seen them play this season they have lost. I made that comment to the boys and jokingly added that perhaps we should stay home next time. Then perhaps they would win for a change.They didn’t like that idea at all, wondering how in the world their dad ever got so superstitious. Besides, it was fun to go to the arena. Big deal if our team didn’t always win.

My youngest even taught me a valuable lesson. When going to the car I asked if he thought the players were happy about the game.
“Yes, of course!” he replied
“But they lost the game!” I reminded him.
“Daaaad! The most important thing is not win, but to have fun!”
“Well… I agree, son,” I answered a bit shamefully, “but do you really think they thought it was fun when the other team scored?”
He thought for a second. “Maybe not then so much… but at least they had a lot of fun before that happened. And that’s all that matters!”

I let out a laughing sigh. “You know… you are absolutely correct! Things don’t always go the way we plan. The important thing is that we enjoy life as much as we can, when we can. And if thing go bad, like for our hockey team, at least we can remember the fun we’ve had before things started to go bananas. Maybe that happy thought can even help us get back on track again?”

“Yep, that’s exactly what I mean!” he concluded.

Not bad for a 7-year-old.

For the Endowments of Life

Last week I attended a CES Conference. At one point a friend and colleague gave all the participants a few minutes to write a personal psalm. I’m not a poet, I know, but I was still glad to have a few solitary moments to clear the world from my mind and write these words of gratitude. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee For all the endowments of life - I love Thee If I were to add (my own) images to my thoughts it could look something like this. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee For all the endowments of life - I love Thee Comments to some pictures: Nr 4 shows my family; nr 5 shows some colleagues and friends; nr 6 shows a recent baptism in Lodz, Poland, in a ‘home-made’ baptismal font; nr 7 shows one of my Polish Institute students with a painting of Christ in the background.

A Laugh is a Smile that Bursts

“A laugh is a smile that bursts.”

Mary H. Waldrip

Repairing My Son’s Heart (2): Hospital Queen

When our oldest son was in the hospital for his heart surgery (see Repairing My Son’s Heart), my wife and I took turns looking after our baby girl. It turned out, however, that she was looking out for herself most of the time, prancing around the place as if she owned it.

First thing she grabbed the stroller and ran, yes ran with it across the hallways.

Then she grabbed a nurse and forced her onto the floor to play.

I actually think the nurse was happy to have a little break. 

In the playroom she carefully choose the right chair and dragged it all the way to the receptionist’s office…

 

… just to have a little chat.

And of course, when big brother was coming down from surgery, guess who went along for a ride?

But most importantly, we couldn’t leave the hospital until daddy had taken that goofy looking surgeon’s glove and blown it up like a balloon. 

It’s a good life for a little girl.

Louis

Repairing My Son’s Heart

Our firstborn came to this world with a serious heart problem. He had holes between the his chambers, which fortunately is a not so unusual condition and easy to fix. But he was also diagnosed with Truncus, meaning he was born with an Aorta but no Pulmonary artery, hence giving his body no chance to receive oxidized blood. The doctors noticed it when he was a week old. I never forget the Cardiologists word during the ultra sound: “Well…” he said abruptly, “your son has a heart failure. He will die if we don’t operate immediately!”Just like that. No forewarning. No preparation. Our child, whom we had been longing for during much tribulation (my wife was very ill during her pregnancy), was now about to be taken away from us. How can one take such news without going into a state of shock.

Today I won’t go into all details, but suffice it to say that our son had his surgery. After eleven hours of complications on the operating table, he heart was fixed after a lot of cutting and pasting; most radically, the surgeons had to place a tube that connected to his heart’s right ventricle, then onward to both passage ways to the lungs. The tube, however, does not grow with the body as he grows older, so it needs to be exchanges from time to time. That happened to Johannes when he was a year old exactly.

Since then we, or rather he, has been very blessed. The second tube has “survived” longer than what is considered normal. The problem, however, is that it will, because of time, tighten up naturally, leaving a smaller passage way for the blood, making the heart pump faster. So the doctors have a important, balanced decision to make: Having to many open-heart surgeries will tare on the young body; operating to late will damage the heart muscle.

We have been told that it is soon time again to have open-heart surgery, but last week we took Johannes to the hospital for a few days, right before his tenth birthday, to open up the tube a little more. The doctors wanted to do this just to buy a little more time. It was simply done (if there is such a thing) by going up through the vein into the hearts right ventricle, and inserting a stent, a tiny steel net, into the tube. This was blown up by an ever more tiny balloon which opened the net so it widened the tube a fraction.

It went well…. we think. Time will tell. Our son handled it all very well, however. We are so proud of him. It’s not easy being a “heart child”, but God has blessed him immensely in is life, giving him an exeptionally good health after all. And even though it is never fun being at the hospital, the staff was great. We have many of them before and consider them our friends. Johannes was treated as a king. Which he is.

Preparing for operation.

After operation, together with his mother.

Recovering in hospital bed with gift from little brother.

Giving is Better than Receiving

Giving is better than receiving.

That’s at least what my daughter thought when we tried to take her picture, luring her with some candy from the side lines. You see what her eyes are saying, don’t you? If you just GIVE me some of that candy YOU will feel a lot better… and I will scream a lot less!

And so it was.

Just think of all the wonderful things life teaches you.

Louis

What Beats a Bedtime Story?

What beats a bedtime story? How about four bedtime stories?

My sons kidnapped me! They wouldn’t let me go. I started with one story (which was our deal), then a second, just to show them I cared. When my time was up, the little terrorists started pressing me. “You’re not a nice daddy if you leave now”; and “We’re going tell mommy that you…” (well, we’ll skip that part…). “Okay”, I answered with faked authority, “but only one more!” Somehow that one became two.

You know, life is big! The universe with all it’s wonders encircle us. Mankind has reached its height in terms of scientific discoveries. Still we’re just getting started. Technology is entertaining us with gadgets to many to number. At this very moment you are sitting here, surfing the net, reading this blog, looking for information, or searching for some kind of happiness through this miraculous world wide web. (Who would have thought it possible a generation ago?)

Still. With all the depths and heights of our existence on earth, few things we experience can match the wonders of a bedtime story moment. No computers, no television, no loud music. Just person to person. Child to parent. Smile to smile. Heart to heart.

What can beat that?

Louis

Have I Messed Up My Kids?

“Dad, do you always have to bring that camera?” Haven’t I heard those words a thousand times?

“Yes, my son, I do!” I said patronisingly, “and one day you’ll thank me for doing you this favor! Just get up there and enjoy yourself!”

Both of my sons knew the drill. When dad takes up that big lens, that’s the signal. We were at Church, with all of the Primary (”Sunday school”) children practicing for their annual presentation at worship service. My boys got up on the stand with the rest, and after a few minutes when they spotted me, they cranked up their smiles. Can you guess who they are?

That’s nice, I thought. But I just wanted a “situation” shot. I tried to discretely signal to them to pretend I wasn’t there - and to just look normal! They both nodded. Good, they understood. Then my finger reaches the shutter, and I have a nice image in the view finder. But right as I press down…

Thanks, guys!I got the “stupid” look instead. They have been practicing on that one more frequently, most likely in protest to what they view as my exaggerated photographic zeal.

I just laughed. Poor kids, I have really messed them up, haven’t I?