"What Matters Most"

"I believe that among the greatest lessons we're to learn in this short sojourn upon earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. And what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them, but we should never assume. We should let them know."
President Thomas S. Monson (YouTube, Mormon Messages, What Matters Most).
http://www.youtube.com/user/mormonmessages?blend=1&ob=4

So, right now, I'm not going to assume you know. I'm going to tell you. The outpouring of love our family has received is beyond comprehension. Tonight I'd like to especially reach out to our Madison Bobcat family.

Tearfully Jace and I watched Matt and Hayden go to Madison's Homecoming Football game. We had to push Matt out the door, because he didn't know if he was ready to be in public, but we knew he had to support Hayden who has been going to these games since he was in the womb. What Matt and Hayden found within Bobcat Territory were hundreds of people cheering for our little boy. From the players having Iron Man Jace #33 written on their arms, to the crowd who beckoned him in, Matt was overcome with emotion and love for our friends, family, and town. He recalled as many details as he could to me, and from what I understand baskets were passed around for donations and fundraising tables were set up selling bracelets, stickers and Bobcat cards: all in Jace's name. Unbelievable.

It's pretty overwhelming you know. Like I said before, I'm not sure Matt and I deserve this outpouring. But we are being carried by your love, and we have to tell you how amazing it is to feel your strength and support.

Jace had a good day at home. He ate Popsicles with Grandpa, and he perfected his skill in squirting water off the front porch from the giant syringes the hospital sent home with him. Two uncles and Grandpa were drenched in the process, and I even had to get after Jace for being so lively. His bursts of energy are quite short lived though, as I noticed after every rambunctious few minutes, he would collapse to the comfort of the couch and the comfy blankets. Tonight he had a sad face the minute his brother and dad left.

"It stinks being sick, Mom," he said, as his heart broke that he wasn't going to the football game. Matt asked him if he'd rather Matt didn't go. Jace replied, "You should take Hayden." And so it was...we played Uno for an hour, I held him on the couch for two, and he restlessly drifted off to sleep. I watched my son breath in and out, wondering about the days to come. He cries when he thinks about losing his hair, and he cries when he thinks about going back to the hospital. My "tender mercy" tonight is thinking of a sea of red, white, and grey...and the love those colors represent on Homecoming night in our little town. Thank you for helping us remember What Matters Most. We love you all.