Nurse Appreciation Month

We would like to thank all the nurses that have taken care of Noah. From the ER to his PICU stays. You have all showed so much compassion and took such great care of Noah.  But there's one particular nurse who needs to be singled out here:  Deanie Kehres.

 Three years ago  Scott and I  were needing time to reconnect as a couple and looking for someone willing to keep Noah once a month so we could get away by ourselves.  What we ended up with was not only that, but new friends for life.  Deanie Kehres,  mother of two of Noah's favorite basketball Whippets, responded to our plea almost immediately.  She's a nurse, and she already knew Noah from the basketball games, so we felt safe leaving Noah with her.  For most months since, Scott and I have taken Noah to the Kehres house--usually a Saturday--and left Noah there with Deanie and her family.  We'd then pick a direction and go that way and see what we found.  We were usually gone for 8 hours or so.

From finding time in both family's schedules for a Saturday that worked to having our day trips ruined by Scott's mandatory overtime, we've gotten away quite a bit.  Scott and I enjoy our time away and we've found some interesting places to go, like the Neil Armstrong Museum in Wapakoneta, and the Marblehead Lighthouse, among others.  

And through it all, Deanie, her husband Todd, and sons Tristan and Brock, have all bonded with Noah (and us) and become the respite care Noah needed and the friends that Scott and I needed.  From getting past the initial experiences of feeding Noah and changing his diapers--both poopy blowouts and geysers erupting--to reading Noah's facial expressions and decoding his body language, Deanie and the others have come to know Noah practically as well as we do.  Noah has spent time with Todd going over game video or just watching sports on TV, and has spent time with them out at their camper at KOA, to hanging out with Brock watching March Madness.

There was also that one LifeFlight trip where Susan was 5 pounds too heavy for the trip, so Todd went with Noah so he could be Noah's voice until Deanie drove Susan up to the Cleveland Clinic.

There are no words of thanks that feel adequate to the gratitude Scott and I have for the Kehres family.  They've become part of our extended family too.  We love and appreciate them so much for their time and support while Scott and I have reconnected as a couple and become each others best friends again.