January 2009 Lower Family Newsletter
Chad T. Lower
Woo wee; a lot has passed us in 2008. I guess you can tell by the
lack of newsletters how swamped I've been.
So, lots to talk about since my last newsletter:
We did sell our house (Praise God!) in April, so that is one burden
off of our plate. No more second mortgage. No more second utility
bills, or tax bills, or insurance payments. I was able to use the
house twice before we sold it, though. While at Walmart in
Morgantown, I was an Asset Protection Associate and caught two
suspects doing a return fraud on a computer. They pleaded innocent,
so I was subpoenaed back to Morgantown for the trial. I could have
driven the 4+ hours there, stayed for the trial, then drove home, but
I chose to stay the night camping out in the old homestead.
Unfortunately, they never showed for the first trial. So I was
subpoenaed again for the second trial. I asked if I could attend via
teleconference or anything of the sort since I lived so far away. The
judge told me that the defendants have a constitutional right to
question their accuser, so I would have to be present for trial.
Well, both suspects were found guilty at the second trial. In West
Virginia, the law states they must pay restitution of twice the amount
of the merchandise, plus court costs and fees. As such, even though
there was only one computer, both suspects were ordered to pay nearly
$1000 in restitution to Walmart—plus court fees on top of that! Crime
certainly does not pay.
To refresh your memory from last time, we were scheduled to see a
specialist in Philly to surgically remove Isabella's hemangioma.
After scheduling an appointment with Dr. Low in Philadelphia, Suzy was
doing some research on doctors to find out about Dr. Low. He
scheduled to meet with us during the summer, but if he could help us,
the actual surgery wouldn't take place until the end of the year.
With Suzy's research, we found another specialist, Dr. Milton Waner
out of New York City who is the top surgeon in the nation for
hemangiomas. He is so specialized that potential patients have to
send him a letter with a picture, and then he decides who he will take
as a patient. Well, Suzy did send him a letter, and one of his
assistants called us saying he could help our daughter. They would
schedule the consultation for a Tuesday, and then surgery would be the
next day. That way we could make plans to go to NYC once and get it
all over with. And he was able to get us in a week before Dr. Low.
We were told that depending on how Bella did with the surgery, she
would probably be discharged Thursday, possibly Friday, so we rented
an apartment until Friday.
When the day finally came, we drove to the City barely making it on
time for her appointment, but he was running late anyway, so we ended
up waiting a bit. While we were waiting, Dr. Waner has books that his
patients put together about their children and how Dr. Waner helped
them. We were reading them to Bella to try to help her understand
what the next few days would be like. After looking through one book
about a girl from Peru who flew all the way to the US to have Dr.
Waner help her, we looked up to see her looking back at us! She ends
up being scheduled as the surgery after ours, so Bella and she were
able to play together in the pre-operating room.
On the day of the surgery, we woke early to be at the hospital around
6:30 am. Of course, with Bella needing anesthesia, she hasn't eaten
anything since bedtime the night before. Surgery was scheduled for
8:30, but there was a complication with an earlier surgery, so she
didn't go in until about 1:30 pm! Surgery was only an hour, though.
While we were at the hospital, I get a call from my Uncle Roy and Aunt
Kathie asking if we would mind if they came to the hospital. So they
as Bella came out of recovery, Uncle Roy and Aunt Kathie appear. The
surgery went extremely well. Bella had about 17 stitches down around
her nose and down to her lip, plus 5 or so more inside her mouth that
would dissolve. In the recovery room she woke up disoriented and very
unhappy. She tried tearing out her IV and her stitches so they
restrained her with "NO NO's" around her arms until she calmed down.
About 6pm we were discharged and coming out of the hospital. We had
expected an overnight stay, but the doctor said we could take her
home.
Before we left the hospital, Bella brought cup cakes for Aunt Kathie's
birthday a few days past and we had to celebrate. Kathie and Roy got
her a few presents for being such a brave girl. She got a sketch pad
and an "I LOVE NY" tee shirt. We all headed back to the apartment,
dumped off our hospital stuff and headed to get Bella's meds. She had
to take an antibiotic for a week, pain relievers, and some bacitracin
for her lip. Then we were on our way to a restaurant, where Bella ate
meatballs, had ice cream, and drank chocolate milk 'till her little
tummy was full and her eyes were drooping.
During our time there we took her to Central Park, the Central Park
Zoo, Children's Museum of Manhattan, and FAO Schwarz (the biggest toy
store we'd ever seen).
Since the first surgery, Bella has been back twice for laser
surgeries. On the second trip in late August, Suzy took kids to Uncle
Roy and Aunt Kathie's in New Jersey as I had to work at the college.
Aunt Kathie was kind enough to keep Chi and Ali occupied while
directing Suzy and Bella on their first train ride into NYC. Bella's
surgery was at 7:30am so they had to catch the train fairly early,
like around 4:30am. Bella got a doughnut after the surgery was over
to eat on the train ride home. Afterwards, there was lots of fun
happening in Roy and Kathie's pool.
On the third and final surgery, the whole family went, as it was the
day before Thanksgiving. I agreed to stay at the house and keep Ali
and Chi company thinking I could get some work done while Suzy and
Bella went off on another train ride. At this point, let me tell you,
Bella was excited to go. She couldn't wait for the trip, even knowing
she was going to have surgery. Uncle Roy surprised us and went on the
train with them. When Bella woke up from her surgery she first words
were, "Where's my doughnut?" And she had it all picked out at the
train station before they got to the hospital.
After she was released from the hospital, Uncle Roy took Suzy and
Bella to Rockefeller Center to see the Rising of the Tree for
Christmas. They stopped by the place of the Today Show, and, for the
first time in their lives, Uncle Roy put Suzy and Bella on the ice to
ice skate. It has been the biggest highlight of Bella's life. She
shares the experience with anyone who will listen, and took pictures
of it to school. They went on to visit a nearby Cathedral before
heading back to the train station. Of course Bella got her doughnut
for the train ride home.
We drove down to Virginia after they returned and spent several days
staying at the Wellman B&B (my sister and brother-in-laws house)
before heading to Suzy's parents for our niece's christening. Suzy
was appointed Godmother over Rebecca Hope Rainey. Then home—it just
felt good to be home.
So enough of Bella (for now at least). Malachi has been attending
Preschool since September. Every morning, he is up, dressed, and
ready to go to school. Even though he only goes on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Suzy finds ways to distract him on
Monday's and Friday's with play dates and visits to my office so he
won't fuss about not going to school those days. He has become quite
a puzzle master these days. Undisturbed he will sit and put together
a 100 piece puzzles on his own. We're actually thinking about getting
him some harder ones to challenge him, and he'll only be turning 4 in
March.
Alessandra is all smiles all the time. Since the last newsletter, I
think I wrote she was eating cereal and about to move up into pureed
veggies. Well she's 16 months now, walks, says words like "eieio,
sure, dada, mom mom, and ella (short for bella). She has plenty of
teeth and eats table foods. Since she started walking (more like up
and running) she's quite busy following Bella around and Chi when
they're home. She loves her baby dolls and her blankie.
Suzy still attends MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers). This past
September she volunteered to be on the MOPS committee and became the
Publicity Coordinator. Currently, she attends two different writing
groups in the area. She's becoming somewhat of a freelance writer
these days. She's sold a few articles online and most recently had
one of her stories printed in the newspaper. I'm extremely proud of
her. She hopes to publish a book someday. The next Nora Roberts!
As for myself, as the New Year begins, I have put down my badge and
said farewell to Walmart after thirteen and a half years. December
24th was my last official day working for them. Although in some ways
I am sad to leave, the time I would have been at Walmart, I can now
spend with my wife and kiddos and/or sleeping. This summer, since I
won't be at Walmart, I hope to be able to teach more Motorcycle Safety
classes. This past summer, I earned my stamp which means I am allowed
to test people for their motorcycle license in addition to teaching
the class.
I am currently preparing for my 4th semester at Penn College as a Math
Professor. Last semester, I taught 6 classes for 20 credits (teaching
15 is considered full time, and they won't allow you to teach more
than 21 a semester). I also took an accounting class and Suzy took a
writing class. This was in addition to working at Walmart full time,
but somehow we made it. This upcoming semester, I am not taking any
classes (nor is Suzy) and am teaching only 5 classes worth 18 credits.
I hope to get to do more pleasure reading as I missed it last
semester.
Speaking of pleasure reading, I was able to do a small amount over the
last few months. One conversation I have had with Suzy several times
over the course of our marriage is how sometimes people have good days
and sometimes people have bad days. I have heard life compared to a
roller coaster. We have our ups and our downs, our peaks and our
valleys. One book that I read gave a slightly different perspective.
Rather than compare life to a roller coaster, they compared life to a
set of train tracks. At every moment of every day of your life, you
have good things that are happening and you have bad things that are
happening. They run parallel to each other. You always have both
going on, not one or the other.
Currently in my own life, there are many good things happening. I got
the Comotose Comes Alive DVD (by Skillet) for Christmas. We won a
contest (www.onthehousecontest.com – if you roll over Pennsylvania on
the map, Chad L. from Williamsport is me) and our January mortgage
payment is being paid by our bank. We finally paid off my school
loan. My oldest daughter no longer has a hemangioma on her face. My
relationship with my wife and family is doing well. I was able to
spend time with my extended family for Thanksgiving and Christmas
(which working retail makes that difficult). I love my church. We
got a Wii for Christmas. But there are also some bad things, too. We
overspent for Christmas. We received the bills for the first two of
Bella's surgeries, and the insurance company has covered less than 5%
due to the doctor being out of network. Bella is having problems
doing her assignments in a timely manner at school and remembering to
bring home her folder and homework. The flu just passed though our
entire house. Twice. I have to share time on the Wii with my wife,
oldest daughter, and son.
As I wake in the morning, I have a choice. I can focus on the bad
things, the negatives in my life. This could be a valley for me. But
I can also wake with an attitude of joy and thanksgiving for the
blessings that God has provided for me. Accentuating the positives in
my mind, I can make this a peak. Now this isn't to say that there
won't be some days where it will be difficult to focus on those
positive things. But I would encourage you to sincerely try. Focus
on the positives. Celebrate the good in your life.
I wish you all hope, joy, and love in this New Year. Let me close
with a quote from Chuck Swindoll:
THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE
by Charles R. Swindoll
Philippians 2:3-5
This may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision
I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more
important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or
failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me, or say about
me, my circumstances, or my position. The attitude I choose keeps me
going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my
hope. When my attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no
valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.
Yet we must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and
fretting over the things that can't be changed than we do giving
attention to the one that we can change, our choice of attitude. Stop
and think about some of the things that suck up our attention and
energy, all of them inescapable: the weather, the wind, people's
action and criticisms, who won or lost the game, delays at airports or
waiting rooms, x-ray results, gas and food costs.
Quit wasting energy fighting the inescapable and turn your energy to
keeping the right attitude. Those things we can't do anything about
shouldn't even come up in our minds; the alternative is ulcers,
cancer, sourness, depression.
Let's choose each day and every day to keep an attitude of faith and
joy and belief and compassion.
Take charge of your own mind!
