Goodbyes Stink

Well, on August 14th, we pulled out of Killeen for good. It was not easy. We've been there nearly 8 years. All of our children have been born in Texas. John and I have spent all of our married life in Texas. So it's very hard to leave. We have been so very blessed to have made such wonderful friends and "family". When we got to Ft. Hood in November of 2000, John intended to do his time and get out of the military. And we couldn't wait to get out of Killeen. Oh, how things change! With John's parents, Jim and Jeanne, and his brother, Joe, and his family living in Katy, it's been very easy to just pack up for the weekend and head out of town to visit. It's not going to be so easy now. But, we're moving close to other friends and family. We'll be 3 hours from the Chapins in Memphis, 3 hours from the Mellos in Atlanta, 2 hours from Nashville and 4 hours from Benton. We left behind such wonderful, wonderful people in Killeen. However, we did luck out; several of the people who cared for Layla left before or when we did so it made the transition a little bit easier. And I thank them and curse them: I thank them for all that they did for Layla and our family and curses because they have set the bar to which all others will be judged. I will not settle for subpar care for Layla. Kim, Jennifer and Stephanie were all Layla's therapists at Kidz Therapeze. What a wonderful group. We miss them terribly. Then there's Dr. Noel, Layla's GI dr and the chief of pediatric gastroenterology for Wilford Hall and Brooks Army Med. Ctr in San Antonio. If it weren't for him, Layla probably wouldn't be with us. He put in her first g-tube button and almost made Jeanne and I pass out when he showed us how you could nearly pick her up with it. He said it was just to show us how well it was in. I think he got a kick out of making us weak in the knees. He walked me through changing out her new button at our last appointment. A little stressful to say the least, but he was a great teacher. Then we left Dr. Organ and his nurse, Kristal. We have an appointment with a new pediatrician in Sugar Land on Tuesday and I must say he is unfairly already behind the curve. I don't know that he will give me his e-mail and answer mine if I send them, or that he will give me his cell phone number and tell me to call day or night if I even have the silliest question. He cared for Layla with more love and care than I would have ever expected. His intelligence, personality and heart will never be matched. And Kristal does a great job keeping him in line. The ones responsible for leading us to Dr. Organ are the Morrows, specifically Cassie. Sean and Cameron ended up being on the same soccer team and we got to know one another. I will forever be grateful that she came up to me and asked me about Layla. Their daughter, Calleigh, has a rare chromosonal condition called 4P-, or Wolf-Schornberg Syndrome. Not only did we both see Dr. Organ, but we also went to Kidz Therapeze at the same days and times and saw the same therapists. Despite Layla and Calleigh having two completely different diagnosis, we ended up experiencing the same issues with poop, feedings, meds, you name it. I don't know that anyone will ever understand what we go through daily with Layla as well as they do and we will forever have a very speical bond with them. And last but not least, we left Ms. Carolyn. We ended up having to do that on Thursday, the day we actually left town because all of the other goodbyes had been too hard. I never dreamed when we took Sean to her house six years ago that she would become part of our family like she has. I couldn't get her and Julian to move with us. We would have even gotten a bigger house, but no go. Outside of our family, I don't know that there is anyone who loves Layla as much as Ms. Carolyn does. Layla has pooped on her, her couch, thrown up everywhere, including the car, and we never so much as heard a complaint from her. Or that she wouldn't care for Layla. I asked several times if she didn't want to care for Layla because she was too much trouble. I would have completely understood if that were the case. My question was met with a look; no words, just a look. One that told me never to ask the question again. And I didn't.