Activity #15

If the worst of the worst, happens to the best of the best, then we should have seen this one coming---like a freight train. There is no other way to put it, no sugar coating, no politically correct grammar to hide behind. Hayden has cancer. The surgery to remove the tumor that grew back in her chest, once benign, is now NOT! I think that someone who has as many challenges as she has had, should be able to pull a trump card on something like this. Don't you? I mean, is it at all fair that she thinks that the surgery was the worst of it, and she still has such a long road to haul? I don't. Can I call "sub", God? Put me in. I'll play this hand for her. Please?! If I would, please understand that I would do it in a flat second. Not to be a heroin, but because it would be fair.

So, every moment, every day is to be even more appreciated and valued now. Opportunities are not to pass us by. Time to be spent together should be spent together. So... today, I called her and asked if she wanted to run and errand with me. Of course, that was all the motivation that she needed to get in the bathtub and get her hair washed (much to her mother's relief). I arrived to her house to find her squeaky clean, getting her hair done by her mom, and expecting a lunch date as well.

On the way, we sang, we talked, and we laughed. Towards the end of the trip, I told  her that I really missed my mom and that I was very sad last night. With all of the wisdom and innocence that is hers, she told me to ask God to let my mom come back from dying. I explained to her that God wouldn't do that, and she said that she didn't want to die, but if she did, she wouldn't have Down Syndrome anymore. The wisdom of a babe. In heaven we are all "perfect".  I asked her how she felt about that, and she said "good". We both understood what she meant.

Challenges. They are the story of her life. She looks different, she talks different, she walks different, she thinks different, and man oh man, does she LOVE different. And for that love, I would walk a million miles.A pure, simple, unfiltered and unexplainable love that you could ever be so blessed to receive. That is what you get from our girl. So I pray. Please God, let her always have Down Syndrome. Not because I want her to have challenges on this earth, but because she is already perfect, and I think You will survive without her. I cannot say the same thing about the ones she loves so perfectly. Amen.

Activity #14

There is a Walrus in her Dad's closet...or so she thinks. Sitting on the bed, she looks at her mom and proclaims that she is scared. Knowing that she has an upcoming surgery, her mother assumes that is what is on her mind. "Why, Hayden? Because of your surgery?" "NO! I think there might be a walrus in dad's closet!" With this girl, you just never, ever, let me repeat, NEVER EVER know what might be her next observation.

We are going to be up against another hospital stay on January 12th as Hayden has a surgery to remove a tumor that has grown back in her chest. Keep us in your prayers, and we will continue to report her progress to you. As of right now, we are happy to report that there is NO WALRUS in her dad's closet. Coast is clear on the walrus front.

Activity #13

Jennifer Whelan is Hayden's mother. Her Facebook status is another way that we are reminded of the wonder that is Hayden. Today, it reads as follows:

I was shopping for flower bulbs with Hayden yesterday she was trying to help me pick out what flowers to plant, I told her I wanted flowers that smelled good, she picked up a bag of bulbs and said smell these. : )

Activity #12

So, today my sister and her daughter, Hayden stopped by for awhile before going to Spencer's water polo game. Spencer is son and brother, respectively.

Hayden was enamored with my new parakeet. She sat looking in the cage for a long time, asking the normal questions we all would ask when meeting a yellow parakeet for the first time: "What's her name? Where does she sleep? Does she play with all of the toys in there?" After a few seconds of deep contemplation, she said she wanted a bird too. "NO!" exclaimed her mother, with no hesitation ,whatsoever. The next couple of minutes were spent revisiting the many "pets" that Hayden has helped to the "other side". Fish that didn't like living in a shoe, frogs that don't like to be held too tightly, and more fish that actually ate themselves to death after Hayden decided that it was better to give them all of their food in a yearly dose, rather than waste her precious time feeding them daily.

Moving onto the couch, Aunt, (that's me), was able to squeeze in a little snuggle time with her favorite 12 year old snuggler, Hayden Faith Elaine Whelan. One would think that this would be enough to make anyone's day, and it really was, until......it was topped by those two words that I live to hear: "YOU ROCK". Gee, thanks Hayden. I think you rock too!!!

Activity #11

Hayden goes camping---NOT!!!

It's Friday, and as we all know the school week is long, and we all get a little tired of the routine. For Hayden, her solution is to bypass her trip to school, and go camping instead. Or at least that is what she told her bus driver. All of this came to light when the driver called her mother to verify that Hayden did NOT need to be picked up this morning because she was going camping. "NO. Hayden is not going camping, and needs to be picked up this morning. Thanks for checking." When my sister asked Hayden if she told the bus driver not to pick her up in the morning because she was going camping, Hayden replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Yeah, but it's OK, I'm not going anymore."

We are not too sure who should get the award today. Hayden, for her imagination, or the bus driver, for listening to a 12 year old who rides a bus for children with disabilities. Not much of a toss up in my mind.

Not to self: go camping, it's better than anything else I had planned today.

Activity #10

After the "sleep over" there is always a "morning after". In Hayden's case, the morning usually begins at 5am. Yes, 5 AM! Not that I wasn't warned by my sister's FB status a couple of days ago which is as follows: " woke up at 4:45am lights on Hayden not in her room found her watching TV downstairs, I said it's too early to be awake she said " I was getting bored sleeping, sleeping is not fun. Don't worry this is what I do." ( Haydens version of "this is how I roll")"... Lucky for me, her Uncle Peter intercepted her and directed her back to her pillow. OFFICIAL wake up time was 720am, and the before school preparation began. It's truly amazing that we forget so quickly the "routine" that is involved with this. Breakfast, getting dressed, packing up the backpack, brushing hair, brushing teeth,and finally, playing with the dogs.

Don't be alarmed, but Hayden is now married-----to Sammy, our dog. She asked him today if he wanted to get married as she was playing with him, and then promptly gave him instructions to "kiss the bride!". All of this happening while she was making him stand up on his back legs like a little person.

Finally, we ventured to Lightning McQueen for the trip to school. It is clear that the world is just full of Hayden's friends, and that every day at school is just another day for her to interact with those friends. While driving down the street to her school, she saw some of those friends. "KATHY!!!!!" being yelled through a rolled up window is not very effective, but she didn't care, and was just thrilled that she got to see Kathy before the start of her school day. A hug, a kiss, and an "I love you Aunt" was all I needed to start mine. I can't wait until Activity #11.

Activity #9

So,...Hayden is spending the night with us because her Mom and Dad are at a Kaiser event tonight. Picked her up from the bus, grabbed her backpack, and bag, and off we went in "Lightning McQueen" (that is what she calls my 2008 350Z).

First stop, 99cent store for some supplies. Camp Rock sunglasses: 99cents; Hannah Montana coloring/activity book: 99cents; arm band to put her ipod in so she can walk around and sing: 99cents. I got her to stop asking if we were done yet by threatening to put everything she picked out back on the shelf! She accidentally asked, but caught herself and said "sorry".

Next stop, Raley's. This is where the first ALL IMPORTANT question was not only asked, but answered while walking through the parking lot. "Do cars have birthdays?" "No. I don't think so, because they weren't born. Only things that are born have birthdays." After we solved one of lifes mysterys, we proceed into the store. Bathroom first. After that, a little shopping, with of course ice cream being at the top of the list. Cookies and Cream. Then, home to swim. While she was swimming, Aunt made spaghetti and watched her out of the kitchen window.

We have reviewed all of the animal's birthdays and ages, taken showers, and eaten spaghetti, pondered on a question I didn't have an answer to (who built my house) and are now lined up for the end of a perfect day---dessert! You guessed it, ICE CREAM! Gosh, I love this girl. And Ice cream.