It's been a while since I have put up a blog post. I also haven't been very active on Faith's Mom's Facebook page. That's because the month of August was dedicated to moving! About 4 years ago, Faith and I moved from the apartment she grew up in, to a different one in northeast Bismarck. The primary reason for the move was to have underground parking so that getting her loaded into the van by myself during our cold, snowy winters would be less of a challenge. We also needed to find a place in which the elevator didn't break down on a regular basis! One of our last sunsets at our old apartment That place served us well, but the drive to her day program, which is located across the river in Mandan was time consuming, not to mention, expensive. I drove about 45 miles a day and used up a tank of gas a week! Searching for a New Place Before our lease ended, I began praying about finding somewhere else to live. A condo would have been nice, but surprisingly not a...
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Fighting the Flood
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It is the last day of school for kids here in Bismarck but all of the excitement for summer is being drowned out by flooding from the Missouri River. Residents of Bismarck/Mandan have been fighting hard all week to keep the waters at bay.
Today, the Bismarck mayor called for even more volunteers because over two million sandbags are still needed. While it looks grim for some, they continue to hold out hope.
man-made dikes are becoming a common site in Bismarck-Mandan
Yesterday, the public was told of a plan to help save most of south Bismarck and others who live near the river from severe flooding. There are many residents though who live outside of their proposed plan. Some of them have already gotten water in their homes, others are packing up and leaving while others continue to sandbag. This weekend it is supposed to rain and on Monday, the Army Core of Engineers will be releasing more water from Garrison Dam. It's hard to know what will happen after that.
I'm thankful we are here in North Bismarck where we don't have to worry about flooding. But we are worried about our friends and loved ones who are fighting to save their homes and who are looking elsewhere for a place to live. It also saddens me they had to close the zoo and evacuate all of the animals. That may seem minor, but I know how much Faith was looking forward to going there for many visits this summer.
Residents are constantly being told not to panic. Despite their fears, the community has pulled together to help those in need. Yesterday on the news, a National Guardsman said when he got the call to duty, he was so excited to help that he had his boots on before he even got off the phone. Last night, people met together at a local church to pray. It is amazing that the best in people is brought out in the worst situations.
Please continue to volunteer and do what you can. If you have physical limitations, make food for sandbagging crews, watch people's kids for them and most of all pray. For some it may seem like a lost cause but with God all things are possible.
I added the following video after I found it on YouTube. It really captures what Bismarck/Mandan as a community is dealing with.
It's been a while since I have put up a blog post. I also haven't been very active on Faith's Mom's Facebook page. That's because the month of August was dedicated to moving! About 4 years ago, Faith and I moved from the apartment she grew up in, to a different one in northeast Bismarck. The primary reason for the move was to have underground parking so that getting her loaded into the van by myself during our cold, snowy winters would be less of a challenge. We also needed to find a place in which the elevator didn't break down on a regular basis! One of our last sunsets at our old apartment That place served us well, but the drive to her day program, which is located across the river in Mandan was time consuming, not to mention, expensive. I drove about 45 miles a day and used up a tank of gas a week! Searching for a New Place Before our lease ended, I began praying about finding somewhere else to live. A condo would have been nice, but surprisingly not a...
Last Wednesday I had my yearly doctor exam and when she said I should get my tetanus shot updated, I didn't think twice about it. The nurse said my arm would be sore for a couple of days, gave me a handout and stuck the needle in my arm. The next day my arm was sore and although I found it a little harder to pick up and carry Faith, I was glad the pain wasn't going to last long. Boy was I wrong! But not only was my arm sore, my whole body was. I felt achy and extremely tired. According to a medical site on the Internet, these were mild side effects of the Tetanus shot. If these were only mild side effects, I would really hate to have them at a moderate or severe level. My arm is still red and sore on day 2 after my tetanus shot. On Friday, two days after getting the shot I felt so tired that I took a four-hour nap after getting Faith off to school. Then on Saturday I took a three-hour nap up until 7 o'clock, but still felt tired and was able to go back to sleep around 10. ...
Normally, Faith is the one with all of the appointments but this week it has been my turn. On Monday I had my annual echocardiogram. On Tuesday I had my pacemaker device check and appointment with the cardiologist who comes to Bismarck from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The doctors who come are pediatric cardiologists who also specialize in adults with congenital heart defects (CHD). This saves anyone in the area who has a CHD from having to travel to Rochester each year. It is very convenient! (I do travel to Rochester to get my pacemaker changed, though!) The Bible verse that has kept me going all these years! When I saw the doctor, we mainly discussed two things: my Fontan and my pacemaker. But first, a little background. I was born with double outlet right ventricle (DORV). Basically, this means both my aorta and pulmonary artery stem from my right ventricle. Because of this, my left ventricle does not really do anything, which is why this CHD is referred to as a sin...
There's a blog I read called Caleigh's Corner about a little girl with CP. Her symptoms are similar to Faith's except that Caleigh is nonverbal. One of the posts discussed Caleigh having her own iPad along with a special language app to enable her to "talk." I saw the photos of Caleigh with her iPad and thought how awesome that would be for Faith to have her own. Then, a couple of months ago, during a visit with friends, Faith discovered the Apple iPad for herself. I saw her with an app called Pocket Pond and how she could press the screen to make a splashing noise and the water ripple. She loved it! She also checked out a piano app where there are the actual keys of the piano. After she was done looking at it, she looked at me and said in the sweetest voice, "mommy, can we please take that little screen home with us?" I discussed the prospect of Faith having her own iPad with her speech and physical therapists and they both agreed it would a gre...
I was struck in the floods in Cumbria, England last year.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathise with what the people of Bismarck are going through; You are soo right in that the community needs to pull together.
"You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.”
At the very least, Teams can share the burden and divide the grief that the flood may have caused.