red, white and walnuts
So the big holiday celebration was in full swing at the Hidalgo house. It all started at 8:27 AM when I was awoken from a dead sleep by Myles screaming, “DADDY!!!!” I stumbled into his room and was brought out of my deep sleep when Myles excitedly told me of all that we were going to be doing that day which included … getting a new bike helmet, decorating his bike with red, white and blue streamers, watching the parade (where he would get tons of candy), then our big neighborhood cookout, a big water-fight with all of the kids on our street, and last but in no way least … FIREWORKS! He was talking so fast I could hardly keep up. I had never been so excited for the 4th of July.
We started our day with the best laid plans (and the whole time I was trying to figure out how I could catch the Germany vs. Italy soccer match at 3:00 PM) by going to Meijer for the bike helmet. I had a great time just watching my son enjoy all the day had to offer. Payton was sitting watching everything and talking in her infant gibberish non-stop. The weather was even perfect … the whole day was perfect.
After the parade we went to the cookout and chatted it up with the neighbors. At the end of our meals some of the parents started filling up the water balloons and getting the hoses ready. Myles came over ready to battle … he looked quite like a partly burnt marshmallow (stark white with the only dark spot being his black shorts). He was running, laughing, sliding … coughing … coughing? I went over to him, and his lips were swollen beyond belief, his face was red, and he was scratching at his throat. He had ingested a walnut.
Myles has a nut allergy … and walnuts top the list of his sensitivity. I held him close to my chest while my wife (who is an RN at a pediatric hospital), and our neighbors (who are both pediatricians) gave him some Benadryl and stood poised with the EpiPen in case he needed something more. While I could not have been in a safer place with the amount of medical personnel on hand, I was scared. I hated seeing my son with swollen lips, tongue, and throat cough and choke for air.
At this point someone said, “What time did you give him his first dose?” I looked down, and at this point it was 3:10 PM.
Germany and Italy had begun playing.
The swelling started to go down … his breathing was better. We finally got up and carried him back to the house. Our neighbors took another listen to his lungs … and then we went inside. He later vomited and did all the things that people do when reacting to things to which they are allergic. Finally everything started to settle down, and I was laying down with him on my chest just listening to him breath as he faded in and then out of sleep. At this point it was 5:45 PM.
Germany and Italy had finished.
My phone rang and it was a friend of mine. He was talking about the game, and I said, “I didn’t watch a minute of it.” He replied, “What happened that made you miss the game?” I told him what went on that day … he in turn told me about the game.
I hung up and began to think about how many times I plan my day, and life, according to my schedule. Just like Myles had done. Yet so often the best laid plans … well they don’t always work. The one thing I knew however was what Myles said later that evening after he was feeling better. He said, “I had a nut, it was not good. God made me better though.” Indeed he did … he does for all of us when our plans seem to fail … he is there for us and he makes us better. While going through it all is painful, and like a nut allergy may stay with us for a long time ... in the end He makes us better.