Life After Transplant

People have been asking what's going on now that Joseph is two weeks out of the hospital.

I feel as if we're standing with an enormous peak shadowing our backs, and airy lightness ahead.

So, what have we been up to? Healing.

This was a couple days after coming home. Doesn't he look good?








Here we are at the arboretum a week after, having a full moon picnic. Well, the moonlight came out later.












And here is an Anise Swallowtail that the kids nursed back to health. We watched her fly away above the trees in that special, awkward, flopsy motion.

Zoe and Kai have been a great help around the house. They're learning the value of chores, and are pitching in whenever we ask. Unloading groceries, folding laundry, wiping knobs and switches, picking up their rooms, and feeding the animals are the new standards.

Joseph has been riding his stationary bike in the backyard, although his body is itching to get out on the open road. He's feeling so strong and energetically fit that he has to hold back from many activities. He can't wait to swim, go to the gym, play in the dirt, hike and run. But he loves reminding me that he can't scrub a toilet or touch raw meat for a few more months. He hasn't gone out in public yet because he says the mandatory mask just screams, "Look at me! I'm a sick person!" For now he's just laying low.

Last weekend we rented a canoe and explored Solano Lake for a few hours. It was lovely being on the water watching blue herons fishing for crawdads, swallows swooping for insects, peacocks herding their babies, and wood ducks preening.

The kids and I have been frequenting our favorite store, Target, where we find much-earned treasures.
We go to movies, cafes, the swimming pool, and on scooter rides so Joseph can work from home in peace. Kai is starting to swim like a fish, and Zoe is training for a kids' triathlon. They both have another week of science camp coming up, which they loved earlier in the summer. I am running 3-4 times a week, and getting out with friends for coffee, and occasionally sketching.

Yesterday we went to the Marin Headlands. Found a nice walk, and then played in the sand.

Only two weeks and it feels like months. We've lived every day to its full potential. We make delicious meals together, take walks, read, talk about worries and fears, draw, and play together.

We are healing.