They left at 4 a.m. on Thursday and pulled into Doug's brother's house at around 12:30. Unfortunately, his brother was stuck up on the mountain helping a fellow hunter who was lucky enough to get an elk. Doug and Cooper were able to visit with the Manti cousins and even got to watch a bit of Mikala's volleyball game while they waited for Mike. They got up to the camping site that evening and headed to bed. I need to let Doug fill in all the details about their hunting adventures, but suffice it to say, they had a blast riding the 4-wheelers, cooking meals, and hanging out with Doug's 3 brothers and Cooper's cousin, Jacob. No elk were to be found, but it didn't seem to matter. They also shared a special prayer on top of the mountain for Spencer.
Father and son
Cooper and Jacob
On Saturday evening, Doug and Cooper headed to Salt Lake to see Spencer. I get emotional just thinking about what was described to me by both of my boys. I'm not sure which was harder to hear about--Nancy's tears as Doug hugged her or Cooper's account of seeing Spencer on ECMO (which is essentially a portable heart-lung or "bypass" machine that took over Spencer's circulation). Cooper is a sensitive kid anyway and he's a deep thinker and the whole experience has caused the wheels in his head to really turn.
Cooper and I had some pretty deep conversations after he got home and even over this last week after he and I spent Saturday together at the annual Cardiac Kids parent conference. He worked in the daycare all afternoon while I attended the conference. The majority of the kids in the daycare were cardiac patients, some of which were transplant recipients and one of which also had a pacemaker. He told me on the way home that the day was a life-changing experience for him and he knows his life is a gift. I get teary-eyed just putting this down in words.
He has been dragged to Cardiac Kids functions for years because I sit on the board and, honestly, it was getting to the point where he would roll his eyes because he has outgrown all the little kid activities. But, this time was different. After having seen Spencer and I think reflecting on his own health history, the whole day meant something different. We had a great conversation on the way home and my heart was so filled with gratitude for this kid. I'm sure we will continue to do battle over typical teenage stuff, but at his core, he is a great kid--compassionate, caring and intuitive.
I had to throw in one picture of Cooper's recent basketball game because I've teased him about it. He decided to write Spencer's initials on his basketball shoes as a constant reminder of what he's going through. What a thoughtful idea, right? Only problem is that he wrote, using a Sharpie, the initials "SL" all over them. The look on his face when I asked him what SL stood for was priceless because it dawned on him as soon as he said "Spencer Lindhardt" that he goofed. Spencer's last name is Felt. Oops!!
1 comments:
Great post Haley! I too was so glad that they were able to come to the hospital. And Cooper is awesome for letting you laugh at his shoe goof. I think it's great, because of course Spencer is a Lindhardt too! :)
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