Days of Thanks #28

Today, I am grateful for a good visit to Jackson’s doctor (I took him in for a rash-turns out it’s just eczema). The office was pretty busy, so I had to wait a while and ultimately didn't get seen until the doctors’ lunch break. Because they were so busy, we saw for the first time the doctor we saw with Hudson on that fateful May day. I was a little nervous because she and I had not spoken of Hudson since the doctors visited us in the office. Whenever we ran into each other in the office, we always said hello and exchanged friendlies, but it always felt to me as though there were a big elephant in the room.

She came into the room and apologized for the wait and explained that Jackson's regular doctor was still with another patient. We chatted about our travel plans for Christmas (she either went medical school or did her residency at Duke--I can’t remember which--so we always used to tease each other about the Duke-Carolina rivalry) and she asked me how my dad was. I was surprised and really touched by the fact that she remembered our long-ago conversations about my dad.  

She took a look at Jackson’s skin and immediately pronounced that he had eczema. Then she said something I will probably remember forever. She asked, “Did Hudson have eczema?” And it was like I could really breathe for the first time since she came in. I said, “No,” and then laughed and said I was getting a lot of lessons in how much one’s second child will be nothing like one’s first child. “Except that he looks just like her,” I said.

And she looked at me and said, “He DOES look just like her.  Beautiful.  Well, she was beautiful, and you [speaking to Jackson] are handsome”. And I exhaled again and smiled.

I almost didn’t even take Jackson in today, because it seemed like such a minor thing. But maybe I was supposed to go. And I’m so glad I did. What a difference a day makes.