Dane's the Man

That about catches everyone up on the hectic week of our wedding. Now all we have to do this next week is get Rach's stuff moved out of my shop so we can move Rick's stuff in. (yeah - that's all!)

But, in the meantime I have an exciting story to share - about Dane.

If you recall back a couple winters ago, when we had a big snowfall and Dale had been having chest pains and ended up having a stent inserted due do a 90% artery blockage, Dane also was having chest pains (check out this link if you didn't read about it). He was in high school - an 18 year old! They're not supposed to have chest pains! So we ended up in the emergency room having quite a battery of tests done. His temperature spiked, he had shooting pains in his neck and arm, headache and nausea and he had just gotten over about a week of diarrhea. Soon after the emergency room episode I figured out that it was probably salmonella and we joined a class action suit. It was settled a couple months ago and Dane got a small 4 figure settlement. He decided how he would spend at least part of the money:

He'd have lasik surgery done to correct his vision!

Good investment I thought. He's doing pretty good for the insecure, helpless kid that he was when he was younger. He signed up at the career center at the Community College he attended in his senior year of high school. That got him a job in the mason's union, he's learning to be a tile mason. He moved out a couple months ago with a friend in my congregation who needed a roommate. He buys all his own food now, pays his bills, gets his car fixed and running well. He's growing up.

Imagine my surprise when he texts me today and tells me that he came by the house to tell me that he could see! He got estimates on his lasik, made the appointment, made arrangements for his roommate to take him and had the scary surgery done without mom there or even in the loop. He only came around to share his excitement after the fact. That to me is just a huge accomplishment.

As much as I love all my kids and sometimes even miss the activity around the house now that they're all almost moved out, I enjoy seeing them grow into the good people I'd hoped to have been raising. It makes all the work, sacrifice, tears, whatever worth the effort.

Now I gotta work on Keith - my unemployed secret Asian man.