Another Set of Hands

Springtime for us can mean catch-up time.

We try to fit in all the things we could not do when the weather was cold, rainy, snowy, or just not travel-friendly. One of the things we usually need to catch up on is medical checkups.

Fortunately, my children have been pretty healthy, so my three youngest children mostly just need their regular once-a-year appointments with the pediatrician and twice-a-year dental appointments.

Alex does not necessarily have a lot more appointments than they do, but some of his doctors are in Cleveland, which is about three hours from our house if we drive straight through. Alex gets really tired when we travel, so for the farther-away doctor visits, we usually spend a few nights in a hotel.

I have always taken Alex by myself. But last year, my next two younger children asked if they could take turns going with us this year. My youngest asked to go too, but we ran out of appointments.

For the first doctor visit, I asked Grace to come with us. We waited until her softball season was over so she could go on the adventure.

Grace was only nine, and she was extremely helpful.

When I travel with Alex, I stop about every hour to tilt his chair and give his bottom a pressure change. I also stretch him to help keep his blood flowing. With those stops, a trip to Cleveland usually takes about four hours.

Not this time.

We had a few unexpected surprises along the way, and what should have been a four-hour trip at most ended up taking six hours.

Grace did awesome.

Her hands were so helpful, and she was very patient. She sat near Alex in the van and was able to help adjust his head or arms when needed. On this trip, they needed adjusting a lot more than normal.

It felt like it took forever to reach the hotel. But when we finally got there, Grace remained patient and attentive to her big brother.

The hotel was pretty sweet, so it felt like a treat to stay there. There were a few fun activities, like a pool, a whirlpool, and an arcade with the old-fashioned, safe kinds of games. The picture above is of Grace and Alex playing on the iPad.

It was nice to see them having a good time together.

The next morning, we got up early and went to Alex’s doctor appointment. Afterward, we went to visit a friend who is also injured. Grace was more than willing to help our friend when he needed a drink or something else.

The rest of the trip, including the trip home, followed the same pattern: things happened, we dealt with them as needed, and we made it home safely.

It was so cool to see my baby girl on that trip.

This is the same little girl who can greatly test things at home and sometimes have an attitude older than nine. But home should be the place where kids feel safe enough to test things.

On this trip, though, she was such a sweet, kind, patient, giving helper.

Boy, was I glad she went.

I realized I never wanted to travel that far alone with Alex again, if I could help it. Just having another set of hands was beyond helpful.

I told Grace how much I appreciated her help, and Alex did too. I also told her that Jesus came to serve, not to be served, and that was exactly how she was during our trip.

So what did my nine-year-old daughter say?

She asked when she could go again — and how soon.