2009 Summary

Sitting in a circle with the local Imam and village elders of Musa Kalay, in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in February 2003, a bucket was passed around prior to starting talks about security, village needs, and concerns about American presence. My interpreter explained that the yellow, curdled jell with the putrid smell in front of me was actually goat’s milk allowed to sit in the bucket for days (in the sun) and was an offering I should not refuse for fear of insulting the elders. The taste and texture of that will never leave me, but as I look back I realize that it wasn’t all that bad, and I am thankful for that unique opportunity of talking politics with Afghan elders and sipping old goat milk. Welcome to 2009 for this Knight family. Sit back and enjoy the comedy, sadness, but most of all hope and lessons learned. The year started with Kristin really starting her new job in earnest and our family adjusting to the kids going to daycare everyday. Many tears were shed with the start of daycare. True to their personalities, Elizabeth quickly became a favorite amongst all the teachers and could go into any classroom and name off 5 “friends” regardless of the kid’s age. It was a chorus of hellos and goodbyes when Lizzy walked through a room – she still went through her spell of tears when dropped off. Ava on the other hand had no friends except her teachers. It wasn’t that she didn’t get to know other kids; she didn’t like them. I could name any kid in her class and she had a reason why she didn’t like that child. Ava latched on to her teachers – Ms. Patsy and Ms. Alice – and we are thankful for their kindness in helping with that adjustment. Casey was simply known as the happy baby. Of course he worked his delightful personality and exploited it. I would walk it to pick him up and watch him cruise over to another kid, take their food/toy/pacifier, cruise away and watch the teachers chuckle about how cute he was. Meanwhile the other kid was left in tears over the loss. Daycare wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined – it certainly didn’t have that horrific aftertaste I remember from goat milk in 2003. For me, the first part of the year was dominated with residency and trying to spend time with my dad. Gerlyn held dinners every Sunday that we tried not to miss and I would attempt to visit on my day off. Things started changing rapidly at the beginning of March and we all knew the time was near. It was the first time I had an extended time period to prepare for death and yet nothing prepares you. I was expecting a sour taste, instead now all I remember is a family that came together, grieved together, celebrated life together, then began moving on. Tragically, a week before my dad died Kristin’s Grandmother suffered a fall, rapid decline in health, and an untimely passing. Once again the kids came through for us. Kristin headed to Pennsylvania with all three kids by herself and was pleasantly surprised. Our young monsters listened in the airport, played nicely together, stayed under control, and even helped others cope with the loss. Little did they know they’d be asked to do it again the next week as they said goodbye to “Bub”. It didn’t taste good, but it could have been much worse. As the bucket came around to me again I found myself in the summer and this time the drink was sweeter. The girls learned to swim, Lizzy began T-ball, and I worked my tail off. One foul taste was one of Lizzy’s first game when an overzealous back swing connected the bat with the back of her head. The tears eventually stopped, but not before the game had ended and she had sworn off baseball forever. Another summer event was our trip to Canyon Lake for a mini-vacation. For the first time in 8 years I saw an ill-planned trip by my wife. The lake was actually a mud puddle after one of the worst droughts in Texas history dropped the lake to historic lows. The “cabins” turned out to be doublewide trailers. The beach was 50 yards short of the water and the weather was a mild 105 everyday making the swings at the playground too hot to even sit on. The girls still talk about wanting to stay in the trailer again – so they must have enjoyed the taste anyway. In August the bucket produced such a disgusting drink the curdled milk had to be chewed prior to swallowing. Ava finally made a friend, one friend. At her friend’s birthday party I marveled at Ava interacting with someone other than her sister; and then tragedy. In a split second Ava fell through my field of vision, landed on the back of her head, and let out a cry that will echo in my nightmares forever. A fall of about 8 feet produced a large skull fracture and two brain bruises in my precious A-V-A. In the end I reaffirmed my decision to be an ER doctor, learned how to challenge fear from a 3 year old, and learned the value of friends and family as so many people helped our family during her hospital stay. Thank you Beau, Allie, Gerlyn, Andrea, Billy and everyone else. Probably the best taste of the year came in September after a long summer of ridiculous hours at work when Kristin and I escaped on a vacation. Somehow Kristin convinced her Mom and recently retired step-dad to fly to Texas and watch our kids for a week so that we could escape to Costa Rica. I gave Kristin the green light to plan a vacation and the library ran out of “books-of-fun”. The end result was a classic Knight trip. Some highlights include Kristin nearly stepping on the most dangerous snake in South America (in sandals), me moving said snake with a stick (Crocodile Hunter style), running up/then down a volcano in a rainforest as darkness set in, standing on the side of the world’s 2nd most active volcano as it spewed lava, and finally relaxing in a luxurious resort. So, that’s a trip through the many flavors of 2009 for us. Even the bad tasting times didn’t leave an aftertaste and we all look back at the year as a time of growth, change, and learning. We hope the year was the same for you. Don’t forget to follow our (mis)adventures at http://panandtink.blogspot.com/. (bookmark it!)