Hi all,
Will start by saying thanks for the emails, kind words, encouragement, support, prayers, meals, visits, phone calls, and more that I have gotten from near and far in these past few weeks. I can't say enough how much it means to me and how much it has helped me to get through this experience.
As crazy as it sounds, this experience has in many ways made me realize how truly blessed I am, and again what all I take for granted. To not only have such great love and support during difficult times, but simply having the money and resources to be able to receive decent healthcare in a clean facility and having needs as basic as anasthesia met during the procedure following my miscarraige, something that so many women, or should I say most women (some of whom I have found include my closest friends) weren't able to have during their D&C procedures - being fully awake and having to not only see, but fully feel every excruciatingly painful second of it is something I could never imagine enduring and gives me one more reason to admire the incredibly brave Dominican women I know.
Speaking of those who have it worse off than I do, I've been spending a lot more time lately with my neighbor Ruben. Some of you may remember me mentioning my 66 year old neighbor from our apartments who was a news reporter and was recently diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. I'm not sure where I left off on updates because I've been horrible with updates, but he had surgery to have the tumor removed and became blind in the process. So now he stays at home trying to navigate his way around with a cane (sudden blindness is not easy to adapt to), and has generously given me his moped as a temporary gift (temporary in case he ever experiences a miracle) though this past month has not been the one where I'm up for that kind of learning to drive a moto adventure, soon though I swear. So not seeing me around for a while after the miscarraige, I finally made it around to visiting. Because I'm not sure how else to put it into words, I'll put it in his words instead:
Ruben: Kristin, I hear you're not doing good and you were in the hospital, what's going on with you?
(I explained the miscarraige, D&C procedure, etc.)
Ruben: Oh but Kristin, eso no es nada ("that is nothing" said with a chuckle) - come on Kristin, my wife used to have those all the time.
(I was pretty shocked, though there have been some rude comments in these past weeks, this one topped the list, but I thought it was fair enough from a diabetic who recently went blind having a brain tumor removed)
Ruben: Wait a minute, legrado you said (Spanish word for D&C), oh I had that word confused with something else. My wife didn't have one of those, I was thinking of something else. That is hard, but don't worry Kristin, the sun will be shining in your eyes again and you'll be pregnant before you know it.
(sounds like a better answer right?)
Me: (after finding out he couldn't eat any of the meals we were bringing him due to his diabetes) Would you like it if I came over and read to you every so often? I have a Bible in Spanish I could read with you if you would like that? That would help me with my Spanish too.
Ruben: Sure you're more than welcome - I listen to anyone who wants to come preach to me - they all come and read to me all the time, I invite them all - Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Catholics, Protestants - I listen to them all. You can preach to me whenever you'd like. (this made Dave and I laugh thinking of all the different door to door missionaries in this country)
Me: (realizing he had the wrong idea and me wanting to show him Christ's kindness and set doctrinal differences aside for later) I don't want to preach to you, I want to spend time with you and read to you. Is there anything else you would like to hear?
Ruben: Get that book over there (I pick it up) - Shakespeare's Greatest Works - Shakespeare is my favorite.
Me: (thinking what did I get myself into, but proceeding) Which one is your favorite?
Ruben: Othello.
So Othello it is, and not just in Spanish but Castillian Spanish where I struggle over every other word and he explains in detail each paragraph to me, which makes for loooong reading sessions. And when I think I am done, he says "Not yet Kristin, read me another scene, your Spanish still needs much more practice". So yes, my newest hobby is reading Shakepeare in Spanish to a blind man every night.
And that's not all... though I'm not sure what all I can believe, this man is one of those walking encyclopedias, if you've ever met one of those? He knows everything there is to know about everything, and on top of that he has an opinion and conspiracy theory about everything too. So I get to hear lots more than Shakespeare. And I think as some type of side effect of having a portion of his brain removed, it all seems to operate on shuffle (though you're probably saying Kristin your brain does the same thing every time you write a blog or email - this is like a seriously accelerated shuffle). Imagine Wikipedia shuffling through facts and stories about Fidel Castro, Linden B. Johnson, World War II, the Panama Canal, the art of human relationships, the Berlin Wall, and the current situation in Libya - this all happens in a ten minute conversation, complete with names and dates, all the facts fascinatingly easily retrieved from his memory and not in any way tied together. That's what a nightly visit with Ruben is like. I've only told one person so far the book fact that had me saying "I think I hear my husband calling" early the other night and it won't make it in this post, so if you want to know you have to email (and have to be a good friend of mine too :)
So that's what's new here (well not really - there's school, church, dance, friends, always something new there, but the weekly emails with every last detail of my life are long gone and I figure this enough for tonight). I thought this was cute enough to share, and it is nice to be needed by someone who also feels like I need him (the need to perfect my pronunciation of Shakespeare in Castillian Spanish is serious business and no laughing matter to Ruben :)
Please continue to pray for us, for Ruben, for our students, our church here, the orphanage, and all the beautiful souls here that change our lives every day. Hope to see many of you in Michigan next month. :) Thanks again for all the love and support that means so much to us.
Love, peace, and prayers,
Kristin (and Dave and Santa too)
