Confluence

With C's birthday today and the anniversary of his illness imminent, I am thinking about him and his health a great deal, about the time he was sick, and about how strong and healthy he is now. That may or may not explain why we suddenly see other people associated with that time more often at this time of the year. They are like loving spirits surrounding us, continuing to carry us through.

Some of it is by design, like when we drop the mobile off at the PICU each April. Some of it isn't.

I've run into Ms. A, his 1st grade teacher, three times in the last week. I hadn't seen her since about October.

Someone called out of the blue last week and asked about C, how he is.

This afternoon, Dr. G called my husband. Dr. G is on the admissions board at the medical school and came across an applicant who made reference to my husband, so he called to ask more questions about the applicant. After the discussion about the applicant, Dr. G asked about C, and ended the conversation by saying, "You know, if any of your kids decide to go into medicine, especially C, I'll walk them right in the door."

And April is only getting started.

An hour and a half later: Again, Ms. A! This time C was with me. Funny that he'll let Ms. A give him a birthday hug, but won't let me do the same.