Half-Hearted

I brought Katherine to Camp Mystic on Thursday.

That was NOT the plan. She was scheduled to take the bus on Thursday morning from Houston with her friends. Her nausea and vomiting was not going away as quickly as I had hoped. She was still pretty sick Wednesday morning and I was getting nervous.

We had hotel reservations in Houston at the Hilton/Post Oak which was right next to the drop off location for the busses. I decided to risk it and we drove up Wednesday afternoon to Houston. She was weak and tired and had no appetite. I kept reassuring her that if she felt bad, I could drive her another day. God bless that little girl, but she kept wanting to try.

We ordered movies and dinner in the room. She tried to eat but could only manage a couple of small bites of mashed potatoes (all of the food she had eaten for the day).

The next morning she did not want to wake up she felt so bad. She dragged herself out of bed and we went down to the buffet at the hotel. She could not eat anything and could hardly sit up strait. There were other kids there obviously leaving for camp and she tried hard to smile. My heart was breaking in two for her. There was NO WAY I was putting her on a bus.

I offered to drive her to Kerville and get a hotel there and if she felt better, bring her to camp on Friday for a late check-in. She reluctantly agreed. I had packed extra clothes for Madeline and myself just in case. We went to the bus drop-off to tell them she was sick and I would drive her myself. She could barely look up from her seat in the car.

We left for the Hill Country at 0730. She slept for the first couple of hours and Madeline watched a Barbie movie. Just outside of San Antonio she woke up and said she was hungry. I whipped it into McDonald's and she wanted a biscuit and a sprite. She ate half of the biscuit and gave Madeline the other half. She then told me it was OK to bring her to camp. I told her if she got there and felt bad I could get a hotel and let her sleep and she said OK.

My fabulous husband had bought me a Garmin for the car and it brought us safely to Camp Mystic by noon. There were teenaged girls screaming and cheering for us as we drove up. They opened the door and screamed welcome and gathered up Katherine immediately. She had a HUGE smile on her face. I wondered if this was the same child I had nursed for the past three days.

We went to her cabin and made up her bed and organized her little space. She kept wandering off to meet more little girls. It was as if she had never been sick. We beat the Houston bus she was supposed to ride - I found out later it had BROKE DOWN on the trip up there. After about 45 minutes, Madeline and I said goodbye. There were no tears, and only a brief hug. My heart cleaved in two and I left half of it in Hunt, Texas.

Madeline and I drove home and arrived in Galveston at about 6 pm. Katherine's illness never gave me any time to think about her being away for so long. I did not want to cry in front of Madeline.

Camp Mystic has a website and they post HUNDREDS of photos from camp every day. I scroll through them each night looking for pictures of Katherine. It makes me feel like I am there too. In EVERY picture she has a HUGE smile. It seems like she is having a wonderful time and I am so happy that Chris and I could do this for her.

On Saturday we got 4 letters from her. Each only had about 1 or 2 sentences and said that she missed us. I have already sent her three care packages! I send her emails every day through her camp. Madeline is making her art projects and drawing her pictures.

Madeline is happy as a pig in mud having Chris and I all to herself. I will try to make the best of it for her.