brothers

we weren't really sure on how to break the news to carson that he was going to have to have surgery this friday, i didn't want to give him any extra anxiety or scare him any more that he'll probably be scared on friday.  but, after talking about it in front of him for several weeks now he finally caught on.  he was talking about it with his physical therapist and said that he would rather drive to texas than fly.  that's carson.  put him in the back of the car with an ipad and some french fries and he's good for about 10 hours.  you may hear a tiny little "can i have a snack?" once in a while but that's about it.

anyway, as we were explaining to him that we had to fly, another little boy's ears perked up.  brooks immediately asked where we (meaning him) were flying to?  you can imagine his face when we told him he wasn't flying anywhere.  he came upstairs with me to get shelby ready for bed and we had a little chat.  with tears in his eyes he asked why he couldn't goto texas.  and with tears in mine i had to explain to him that his brother needed to have surgery and that mom and dad needed to be with carson when he was at the hospital.  well the mention of surgery made brooks even more upset.  he wanted to know why his brother had to have surgery.  isn't that the beauty of kids.  brooks doesn't notice that there is anything different about carson and the way he walks.  after showing brooks how he and i can stretch our legs out all the way but that carson could only stretch is out a little he understood a little of why he needed to have surgery.  but then that brought on all kinds of questions.  will they have to cut his legs, does he have to get a shot (the worst thing imaginable to this 5 year old), will he be able to walk when he's done?  and so on and so on.  the best part was when i told him that we would need to help carson once we come back home and that he might not be able to do as much right away.  then i told him that he'd be in a wheelchair for a coulple days.  what???!!!  he "gets" to ride in a wheelchair, he's so lucky!  yes, buddy.  carson "gets" to do all the fun stuff...again, the mind of a 5 year old.  he was ok with not going with us when i told him that aunt megan was going to take him to see a movie and maybe go to chuck e. cheese.  he totatlly forgot about wanting to go with us to texas.  i guess chuck e. cheese trumps it all. 

the sweetest part of this whole conversation was at the end when brooks told me that we probably shouldn't tell carson about the surgery because it may scare him and we don't want to do that.  he told me to not talk about the "s" word in front of him so he won't hear us.  and we better not tell dad either, because he would probably tell carson.  several times he's heard me talking about going and said, "mom, remember, we're not telling dad or carson till you get there."  brooks may drive me nuts 98% of the day but he sure can be sweet.  sure the boys fight and annoy each other just like any other two brothers.  but they are each other's best friend.  i pray that lasts.  

sweet brothers.

off to clean and pack.  trying to get us all ready to go tomorrow morning.  we fly out bright and early and meet with the doctor tomorrow afternoon.  the surgery will be friday, we're just not sure of the time yet.  we will find out tomorrow.  thank you all for your messages, texts, emails, and prayers.  this will be great for carson.  all good things, all good things...