Routine

So often our lives become one of routine. Monday is this, Thursday is this etc. In this place, it is no different. Many of you know that some of our most special times here on the Africa Mercy have been when we take the kids down to the hospital after dinner and let them run amuck with the patients. We have formed special bonds with patients and especially love spending time with the VVF women who so  adore being around our little ones. For most of the time, it has been a nearly weekly routine for us as a family since we first arrived on the ship back in Guinea.

Early in this field service, we got out of that routine. There was a really nasty stomach bug that went around the ship at the beginning of the field service. We live in a petri dish here so things like colds and stomach bugs do spread pretty quickly. This one though was something else. At one point, it was reported that about 25% of our crew were down with this bug. It was bad enough that a decision was made to ask crew not to go the hospital unless they were working.

We were fortunate that none of our family came down with this bug. But for a couple weeks we also weren't able to go to the hospital. We filled that time with other things, including time on the dock with the girls learning to ride their bikes, hanging out with their friends or time playing on Deck 7 and 8. After the stomach bug ended, going to the hospital was not routine.

We went over a month without going before we realized that it had been a while since we had been down. So we went back down. The kids orthopedic surgeries were going on so there were lots of kids down on the ward happy to play with our kids. Jack has become quite comfortable down there giving out stickers. The girls play Jenga or color or just hand out their stickers. We have talked about it before, but it is a blast to watch our kids make connections with kids and adults alike despite the language barrier.

While watching our kids play down there, I came to a realization that I guess may have always been in the back of my head but I had never really fully grasped it. Previously, I saw these hospital visits as great experiences for my kids. I loved what they were being introduced to, people they were meeting and memories we would share with them some day. What I never fully grasped was the impact they were having all on their own.

I stood there and thought, this hospital needs my children. The patients are impacted by my children. This place needs my kids as much as it needs Tracey and me, maybe more. The other day, the kids were just playing tag in a room where some other crew members were playing some music. I overheard one of the music players, say "I just can't imagine this place without children."

Overhearing that just reinforced what has been on my brain since I watched my kids in the hospital the last few weeks. Our families have missed out on seeing our kids grow up to this point and that is quite a sacrifice for them. But this place, this ship, this community, this hospital are better off because Adalynn, Cora and Jack live here. The people they meet are better off for meeting them. The dining room would not be the same if Jack wasn’t passing out fist bumps as he walks through. We are thankful our families make this sacrifice, which makes the lives of our crew members, and most importantly our patients, so much better than before they met them. Painting nails, coloring with adult patients, inviting kids to play with them or something as simple as Jack passing out fist bumps as he walks around the ship. These things make this place what it is. Tracey and I just need to release them to be who they are and this place is better because of who they are.

This realization makes me a much prouder dad and one who is glad that we are back in the routine.