As excited as we were to be going home - it wasn't without tears. We were sad to be leaving our family in Ohio. My in-laws graciously opened their home to us for an entire month and never complained. They never complained because the girls were too loud or taking over the TV. They never complained about us turning their home into a mini hospital with all of Addie's meds and hospital equipment. Instead, they made sure we were comfortable, snuggled and played with our kids, encouraged us as we walked through our fears, and created bonds that are not able to be broken. We are thankful for the hidden blessing that we found in getting to spend an entire month with them despite the reason for us being there. They made their house our home away from home. They gave us the ability to just take care of Addie and not worry about anything other than that job.
So even with many tears - we packed 2 months worth of clothing, gifts, hospital equipment, and toys and began our journey for home. If it would have been up to Addie, we would have come home on Wednesday rather than Friday. As soon as her transplant coordinator called on Wednesday to tell us that her labs were beautiful and they were going to discharge her - Addie said "ok guys, put your shoes on and lets go." Bless her heart! From the moment she first opened her eyes in the PICU hours after her transplant - she began to ask if we could go home. And she never stopped asking. Every single day she asked to go home. Because home for her meant she was safe. It meant she wasn't going to be stuck with needles or put through procedures or have strange people walking into her hospital room at all hours of the day/night. It meant that all was right in her world and she was safe.
So today was the day that we got to honor her request and take her home.
Katie, Ang, Greg, Tanner and Tyler all stood in our driveway to give us a big WELCOME HOME. They cheered as we drove up our street and jumped for joy as we pulled in the driveway. They ran into our arms and hugged us like they were never gonna let us go.
We are lucky to have a phenomenal family in Ohio and in Spring Grove. Our Spring Grove family worked hard to make sure that we walked into a warm and clean home. Our brother-in-law, Greg, took excellent care of things at our house while we were gone. He stopped at our house on a weekly basis to make sure that things were safe. And a few days before we came home - he made sure our heat worked (which it didn't - but he got it fixed for us). Our sweet friend, Cheryl, gave us one of the greatest gifts she could have given us... She cleaned our house!! And it looked beautiful!! My mother-in-law washed our sheets and made our beds. Ang made signs and created a space that Addie would be excited to see and Katie got us groceries to get us through the our first couple of days home. Yep - we are blessed.
There truly is no place like home.
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