Chasing After Chase

SIDE NOTE:  I started this post at 3 a.m.  I thought I would be able to get it done and send it out this morning.  Why was I up at that early hour?  Taking care a  of a sick child...which included convincing him to stay in his own bed instead of roaming the house spreading his germs everywhere!  This virus is going through our house like a mad demon.  I am seriously thinking about going around and blessing the house...maybe after a good run through with disinfectant.  This morning it was poor Brendan's turn to vomit his guts and then sit on the toilet for hours.  I know...more than you want to hear, right?

It has already made its way through two others before him but he has the worst case...the others only lasting two days while he is now on day four.  After the first day he told me: "I can't take this any more!"  I told him I was at my limit also but I guess the little beastie virus had other plans.  Somehow the baby and I have managed to stay well...I am praying for the best and dreading the worst.

The worst thought that continues to go through my mind is that we will still be sick as we drive to Austin to pick up Michael on Sunday.  Please pray for us as we are trying all remedies and preventative measures to avoid this scenario.  My post did not start out this way but as you can see I am getting a little weary of the whole thing...decided to send this out on my blog in hopes that others will pray for us also.

I got a little side-tracked helping him and finally fell asleep at the computer.  Here is the post I started this morning (and just completed) in honor of Chase:

Oh...I have just been waiting for the day I pulled the quilt for Chase from my stacks!  I know...sounds silly but whenever I read about Chase I immediately thought about our boys!  He sounded just like them...his love of tractors and tools...and especially his desire to go to the kid's workshop at Home Depot.  It was not hard to design a quilt for him much like I would design for one of our own boys.  A boys quilt true and true.  I even went to Home Depot and asked for an apron to place in the center of the quilt!

Chase loved anything outdoors...his special honor in all of the reports were his claim of running his first triathlon at the age of six years old!  Every time I see this remark from his family and friends, I cannot help but think of my own boys creating some type of obstacle course and racing each other through the course at 'record' speeds!

I think most of all I have learned to appreciate the run through the house at lightning speed and the noise within my house that only little boys can make.  I can only imagine the silence that must present in a house that no longer has a boy like Chase.  I am sure that Chase's parent beg for the noises and chaos that Chase brought to their home.

Last night as I was reading through the articles again, I came across an article I had not read before from an interview with Chase's parents.  The mother says she had a vision from her son in Heaven and he told her it was OK...that she should focus on helping assure that this would never happen again.  She said she felt at peace knowing Chase was in a better place.  The father said seeing his wife at peace gave him peace as well.

So, in spite of the illness running through our house, I am trying to find the joy in these annoyances.  I am trying to appreciate my boys for who they are..knowing that eventually these boyhood years will come to an end.  And, besides...I like their creativity and rambunctious joy in their activities...it is what makes them little boys!  So as I chase my own little boys around (Yes...they manage to still have energy even when they are sick!), I plan to honor Chase by letting them enjoy their wild ride through their day!