Today progressed like normal (with the exception of the introduction of day one of the 2017-18 homeschool year), with Reuben having a few seizures throughout the day. We have an unusual family tradition of having a grandiose "Knickerbocker Glory" ice cream/fruit concoction (inspired by this e-card preview that is one of Reuben's favorites) in fancy glass dishes every year on Labor Day, and this year was, of course, no exception. We were missing a few ingredients (no fresh cherries when I went to the store), and the cinnamon tortilla crisps that I made got burnt to an actual crisp, so we substituted with broken wedges of leftover Sweet Martha's chocolate chip cookies from the MN State Fair, but overall, the reception was positive.
Reuben was, as is often the case at mealtime, wandering around the table, asking for a lap to sit in, and was standing by my side at the moment when his next seizure hit and as he curled forward in the initial "tonic" phase of the seizure, he just happened to be positioned such that his face slowly and decisively was shoving itself deeper and deeper into the not-quite-empty Sweet Martha's cookie bucket.
There's no photo to share, because it just didn't seem right to not only have the whole table burst out laughing as our eight-year-old brother/son/grandson got hit by a grand mal seizure, but to also then take a photo of it. But, it IS good to be able to laugh sometimes during the seizures, and not just cry, because they are just a part of our life, and, yes, they make life hard, but life still goes on (until it doesn't), and here we are, so when it's funny, we can laugh. There's nothing like laughter to rob the seizures of the prospect of making any of our lives miserable.
When my niece was going through cancer treatment and subsequently on hospice for 3 years before she passed earlier this year at age 6, there were a lot of times her mom and I spent laughing in hospital rooms. Including during really scary times in PICU. I'm sure it appeared odd to some, but over the course of 4 years we had been through so many scary moments with our little princess. She suffered from constant seizure activity too, due to all the brain damage from the radiation and chemo and side effects of treatment and mini strokes and whatever else was going on inside her little body. We found things to laugh about, that maybe nobody from the outside could fully understand. So I get this post, fully and completely. it was never cruel in humor, but to be as depressed and sad and scared as we were ALL THE TIME would have likely ruined us and we wouldn't have been capable of caring for HER because she couldn't care for herself. Sometimes laughter is the only medicine available in the moment.
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