Ruth

I had a visit from Ruth Huffman two weeks ago. I have met Ruth before on a couple of occasions socially, but that was really quite a long time ago, before the girls were born and when Amanda and I were still living in the old house and prone to going out to the occasional party.

Ruth is a very talented writer. She writes for the Advocate, which is a local monthly paper. Every month, Ruth goes around the local area and sits down with someone of interest and has a rather protracted conversation that she then turns into a piece for the paper. I think through my sister-in-law Renata, Ruth decided to come and pay me a visit about 10 days ago to chat.

Ruth dips tobacco. For anyone outside the US, just think of an old western where someone is spitting into a spittoon; that's what Ruth does, although she would spit into an old glass jar. At first, it can be unsettling, because there aren't too many women who dip tobacco, but I think it suits Ruth right down to the ground.

We had a great conversation. She was here for about two hours, and we really just tried to delve as deep as we could into my situation: my situation before ALS, my life when I was diagnosed, and my life since the diagnosis and how I've tried to live since then. It's obviously been a hectic year. More hectic than you realize until you look back on it and reflect on all the things we have done. We also spoke about the emotional side of things, the things that prey on my mind, things I worry about, and things I don't worry about. I'd love to tell you it was a nice, simple conversation, but there were at least a half dozen times when I got pretty emotional, pretty upset. To her eternal credit, Ruth put down the digital recorder and even came over and gave me a hug at one point, which I think helped me through.

In all, I think it was a really good experience. It's bizarre... it's never easy to talk about it... the hardest thing to talk about is the girls. Talking about the girls will get me quite emotional and upset, but at the same time it's like getting a bit of a weight off your shoulders. Even if it's just for a minute, or an hour, or a day... it's beneficial. In the long run, I don't think that ever means I will be okay with it, or be okay about thinking about the girls. It seems to release the pressure, if only for a moment.

So, for those who live locally, you should look out an interview in the January edition of the Advocate. For those who live overseas, I'll see if I can get a copy of the article transcribed, and we'll throw it up on the blog here before too long.

Birthday boy

Jake turned three on December 6th. Happy birthday Jake.

We just received some pictures of Jake is a puppy, and I thought I would share them.

My Bride

We spent most of Friday and Saturday celebrating Amanda's birthday.

With the help of Amanda's good friend, Lauren, I was able to find coverage for Amanda's afternoon classes. The high school principal, Mr. Jeffries, helped to set up the surprise by insisting that Amanda joined him for meeting during her lunch break.

Amanda appeared in the principal's office, and we surprised her with the news that she had the rest of the day off and that we -- David, Phyllis, and I -- were taking her out for a birthday lunch.

Amanda was able to squeeze in a rare weekday nap before the girls came home from school with David and Phyllis. We had a fairly quick turnaround to go back into town, grab a bite to eat, and make it to the movies in time for The Hobbit.

Just as Mr. Jeffries was keen to help, so was Josh, the manager of the movie theater. I went in the previous day to purchase advanced tickets, and inquired if it was possible to reserve specific seats. Josh said he would dig out a velvet rope and hold some seats for us.

We were greeted at the door, and ushered to our seats. They weren't exactly hard to spot: our seats had been cordoned off with a twisted vine of flowers, and dried petals were sprinkled on the floor.

Earlier, as we drove into town, Amanda had congratulated me on making her feel special. Since she had no idea about our reserved seats -- neither did I, as it turns out -- I simply smiled, and said that I was glad she felt special.

I am fairly certain that her flower-covered seat took that special feeling to a new level.

We enjoyed it cozy day at home on Saturday, before heading over to Amanda's mom's house for dinner. Lauren and Josh joined us for a wonderful meal with Claudia and Renata, and we had a great evening.

I'm so happy I was able to make Amanda feel special, because that's exactly what she is to me.

Jonsi

Spirit