An Amazing night!

Friday night, Jessie and i went to the Friday Night light screening for Gridiron Heroes. We arrived at about six and sat in the lobby. Jessie noticed when we were signing in, that Kyle wasn't there yet. So we grabbed a few seats and just people watched. At one point, Kyle walked in. He saw our family and came right over. As he was hugging me, I said to him, "wow, you really remember me?" He smiled and said of course he did. He came over and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. He reached out to shake Jessie's hand, but she was like " I want a hug!" So he gave her one!! He was asking about Grace's cast and what had happened, so we filled him in. I told him that I had taken Grace in for an appointment that week and was humbled by the amount of wounded soldiers that day. He was commenting how much that hopsital had built up. He then went in to the cocktail party.
About fifteen minutes or so later, we noticed that he was standing outside the party talking with a few fans. Jessie and I went up and asked about getting out pics taken with him. He graciously agreed. He then asked if we were going in to the party. I told him no. He asked why not. I told him about having the kids there. He said, so? I then had to tell him that it was slightly out of our budget, but that I'd be volunteering at BTL and he'd see me there. We talked a little about the weather last year and how much money they made and i told him how excited i was to be helping out. He seemed happy to hear that.

Then came the red carpet walk. Jessie and I were right up front. My son Josh, with his school camera, was standing WITH the media. All the actors came through and i got lots of hugs from them. Brad kept calling me cutie all night and told me not only was I a part of Dillon, but i WAS Dillon!! LOL!! Connie remembered my name and my Texas necklace and I told her I remembered that the charm on my necklace was her goodluck charm for the Emmy's. Kyle finally came through and signed an autograph for me. I gave him another hug and a kiss on the cheek and he kissed me back and smiled! Then it was time to go in to the screening.

The screening itself was awesome. Gridiron Heroes called up a football player and his family and presented them with a handicapped accessable van. It was a great moment. God bless the Canales' and everyone associated with Gridiron Heroes. They have truly been a blessing to so many families.
We watched both episodes and went through the autograph signing and then went home. My son, Josh got some awesome pics of the actors and I'll post them here as soon as I upload them to photobucket. I'm sure Jessie will post her experiences too. I'm so glad she finally got a hug and a picture.

I'm so blown away that Kyle remembered me and my family. He treated us like old friends. My husband was blown away by how quickly he came over to us after he saw we were sitting there.

Overall, it felt like a family reunion, I felt like after all those seasons extra-ing for FNL, all those early mornings, late nights, sometimes, shooting two or three times a week for long hours, I, and my family, were really appreciated. It was a great night!!

Clear eyes, full hearts.....

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v191/A....es%20Screening/

Eight years ago today, the surgery..,,

It was eight years ago today that my son Benji had surgery to remove a brain tumor. I spent the last precious preop moments memorizing Benji and telling him how precious he is and how much we love him. How happy he makes everybody who meets him. I sent him to surgery knowing that I said everything that needed to be said.

During the surgery, time slowed down and sped up. i remember some things vividly, and other things are a blur. I remember the Muslim couple with their prayer rug, and their worried faces. I remember the male nurse who came in, and called this couple out of the room. They never returned.

The OR nurse would call every hour or so ,and update me. Each call would keep me going for another hour or so, so I never panicked.

My pastor, music minister and children's minister flew in, and played UNO with us. I won just about every game. I wonder if they let me win. Looking back, if I could've seen the shape I was in, I would've let me win too.
We ate mmunchies from a care package sent by the Joy school director, and talked about how special Benji was to us.

Then Dr. Shapiro came and spoke to us. Our pastor joined us in the hallway, much to the surgeon's chagrin. I remember looking at the surgeon's shoes, looking for Benji's blood, and feeling an odd mixture of relief and nausea that there was no blood. He told us that he believed he got all the tumor, but he would have to see another MRI.

I went into Recovery to see him, not knowing what to expect. A very sweet nurse met me at the door, and when I told her I was Benji's mom, she went on about how sweet and adorable Benji was. I went to his bedside, and indeed he was being sweet and adorable. Little innocent, sleepy smile on his face. He was feeling no pain. His tongue was swollen from the tube, and he wasn't thrilled about the tube sticking in his "privates", but he was fine. The scar was a surprise, but all this time later, it's still a suprise sometimes.

The next few hours were a blur, getting him all settled in ICU.
Benji's surgeon suggested to us that we go back to the house, have a meal, come back and say goodnight, then go back to the house, and sleep. Best suggestion that man could've had.

I slept like a rock that night!!

Here we are at eight years. Benji is 15 years old now. We're so blessed to have him here with us.