Before there were Blogs

Before there were blogs, I had a cyber-lifeline. It was a group of moms on an AOL bulletin board. All of us stayed at home with our very young children. I think I found this board when Big Brother was a toddler.

At the time, we lived in a neighborhood that was primarily retired military. They were great neighbors; there was always someone at home (and out in their yards) during the day--but there was no one for Big Brother to play with and no moms for me to chat with.

That's where the SAHMs came in--the Stay At Home Moms from the AOL bulletin boards. We had our own little meeting spot where we could stop in at any time and post a message; in no time at all, it seemed, someone would leave a comment for us.

We encouraged each other through births of children, infertility, deaths of parents, job losses, military deployments, potty training, temper tantrums, food allergies and health crises. And when we gradually moved away from AOL, we took our core group with us and formed an email list. That petered out after a while, but then along came Facebook--and magically, we're all back in touch again.

Now it's time to support one of our number, as we've just learned (via Facebook) that one of the SAHMs has suddenly lost her 20-year-old son. He was a college student, and an intelligent young man of many talents and great promise.

I request the kindness of your prayers for the repose of Mark's soul, and for his parents and two brothers and many friends and relatives who mourn his loss.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. And may those he left behind be comforted.

Faint on Friday

We had a few errands to run this morning: stop at SAM'S to return a pack of socks that Big Brother said were "the wrong kind," stop at the library to return books, stop at Chick-Fil-A for a promised lunch out, stop at Target for dramamine and a backpack for Middle Sister. Of course, none of these are too far away from each other, so there was a lot of "in and out of the hot car and into the cool store" with each of these stops.

We were just about done in Target (Middle Sister was looking for just the right ponytail holders) when Little Brother said he had a bellyache. Usually that's Little-Brotherish for "I need to use the bathroom" so I told Middle Sister to wait for us in the ponytail aisle; we'd be right back. I took Little Brother by the hand and all of a sudden he was hanging off my arm--he had passed out right there in the aisle. (Good thing I was holding his hand, or he'd have hit the floor hard!)

I called to Middle Sister, while getting down on the floor and getting Little Brother into my arms. It took him a few seconds to wake up--not many, but it felt like forever, and he felt very hot.

There we were, in the main aisle of the store, drawing all kinds of attention from very helpful shoppers and store personnel. I handed Middle Sister my purse and told her to go buy Little Brother a bottle of water, so she took off to do that. Little Brother was completely confused about what had happened, but after he had some cold water, he felt cooler. We sat there together for a few more minutes, until I thought he was OK. Fortunately he's a little guy, so I was able to carry him to the front of the store. If there had been a line I'd have abandoned the cart, but we didn't have to wait, so Middle Sister loaded our purchases, I swiped my card and signed, and we were out of there, and around the corner to home.

I have never seen so many people in red shirts and tan pants all in one place. I think every single Target employee asked us if they could help in any way. I really appreciated everyone's concern and offers of assistance--from the store associates as well as other shoppers. (As a side note, the shoppers who stopped were ALL moms with their children. Way to go, moms!)

Little Brother felt pretty punky for a while, but after about an hour he had perked up, and soon after that he was climbing all over Middle Sister and asking her to play dodge ball, tossing a ball around the living room and risking the Wrath of Mom. So my guess is, he's fine--just overheated. I've been pushing rest and fluids this afternoon.

Middle Sister never got those ponytail holders. I'll let her walk over there tomorrow and get them.

Help Out in Big and Little Ways

Over at O Night Divine, Mary Ellen Barrett has the story of a family in need of a little help right now--and two ways to help out.
Here's one--click on the picture to order a family-produced, Family Centered planner.


If you can, lend a hand. And definitely remember this family in your prayers!