"One thing at a time"

Erik Playing with my Wig, Dec 2002 Erik, weighing less than 5 lb. Wow, is ALL I could say when I saw my "High School Freshman" opened the passenger door and hopped in after the first day of school. I am a mother of a freshman student? Or is my son old enough to be in high school? or whatever the thoughts that rushed to my mind was of simple amazement.. When I experienced cancer, I simply stopped thinking about things that pertain to the far future,, such as Erik in high school. I never imagined it. He was in kindergarten then, with an innocent smile, he asked what made me decide to change my hair style and shave it all off. Worriedly, he asked if he would pick up the same illness and lose his hair by kissing me. The growth and maturity that i never could imagine that day was sitting in front of me. Then I looked in the mirror and saw a woman who definitely looks a bit more mature than I remember. I honestly thought that living till 50 would mean a long life w...

There is first time for everything. Erik and I both experienced the art of building something out of a chunk of clay. It was not just fun but extremely precious learning experience. Erik was quite meticulous and patient. He was also SO INTO it. Two hours went by very quickly while learning to pinch just right, mold just right. or squeeze or roll just right! We had an excellent master potter who pretty much gave us a private instructions for the entire time. His teaching ability was also exceptional. Erik turned the wheel slowly smoothing the edge or attempting to even out the shape. I could not help but thinking about the imagery of how each of us sits on the wheel and molded day by day,,,,, one turn at a time.

It is 3:30 AM in the call room at the hospital in nashville. The day and the evening went quite busy and I am sitting down feeling the need to unwine, instead of going to bed. When I feel so exhausted, nothing is more soothing than good music. So I decided to listen to some of my son's recent performances. Then I realized that I never finished editing and uploading something I intended to do last week. So, here is the Sunday morning playing from a few weeks ago when Erik was so honored to be invited to play for our friend's church. I often hear friends ask, or comment, "You must be proud". What I feel as a mother is actually very complex. More often, I feel incredibly humbled by it all. It amazes me that someone blessed us with a sweet boy,,, I also always have this sense that it is not for me to hold onto just for me or for us, it is meant for giving back. I enjoy sharing the music he enjoys with others around us. I hope he would know, how much, Just how much I per...

What can I say, except, Indeed He is Risen. I am grateful for the love Erik has for the hymns and the time he takes to practice hymns like this out of his regular piano studies. I have been blessed to have music that thrills my soul, at no admission fee, and live! while in the comfort of my home.

When I go abroad not knowing what kind of encounter is waiting for me, I am almost always met with a nice surprise that tells me that I do not go anywhere alone. Last october, my trip to South Africa gave me a special hour with a Zulu nurse leader who invieted me to have my personal tour of the city. When she discovered that we share the faith, she was amazed at best but more than that she could not wait to spend a personal time with me. She drove me in her car and we sang hymns while we were on the road... I always find it exciting to look for the surprise that is sent from above. I just returned from a week in Japan participating in a disaster relief team made up of various health care professionals. I was one of the 4 Japanese who joined the team on March 30th from the US. There were about 20 of us all together (click the photo above). Another one of the 4 was a nurse from Los Angels. By the way, if you click the photo, you would be directed to the picasa album that was also posted ...

I just returned from Japan after spending a week working with precious people volunteering for the needy areas affected by the disaster. I would like to share my photo album, which only describes a fraction of the work that is being done by many volunteers, or a fraction of the needs that are identified. If you click the photo above, you will arrive at my album that shows some of the activities. Even though the photos do not do justice, seeing is believing. The recovery would be a long one. The people are patient and tough in Tohoku area. It is difficult to determine whether the Japanese government has been able to do all that they could possibly do. Well ,they rejected several offers of foreign help for reasons, I have a difficult time understanding. They agreed to have the Israeli team come but the Israeli capacity and their ability was rather limited to only a certain area. The Israeli facility is by far superior to any Japanese facilities that are in the area at this point. The ...

I shared with you about a week ago that Dr. H from Iwaki (Fukushima prefecture, about 30 KM from the Nuclear Plant) shared the difficulty he is going through at his hospital while he was delivering care to the neonates in an environment with limited resources with the impending nuclear thread growing. His hospital since transported several infants to other facilities but he is sticking to one patient who is too unstable to transport. We received a mail through the neonatal list serve yesterday with a story of unforgettable 4 lives. Unforgettable 4 lives. Dr. H expresses that he is clearly distraught at the time of writing and that he wishes the others who are in the neonatal medicine/nursing would be able to identify with his thoughts. He took care of a trisomy 13 infant sometime ago who stayed at this NICU nearly a year and was discharge home to continue the medical care at home. Trisomy 13 is a chromosomal condition that is often not consistent with life but this infant waas able to...