I normally work really hard on our annual family scrapbooks, using fancy Photoshop & all. Our 2015 book, though? It’s not so fancy. It was a whirlwind of a year, so I was 100% okay with last year’s book being very simple. Simple was a good thing after everything we’ve been through this year.

I was pretty excited when I got home from work on Thursday and saw the big orange box from Shutterfly sitting on my porch. After letting the dogs out, I finally got to dig in.

January… snow day pictures… family game night… paying off the car…

February… Luke’s 11th birthday… a foot of snow… Valentine’s Day…

March… family birthdays… Pi Day… a picture of Luke sleeping on the couch- not really sick, but not really feeling good, either. (Huh. Interesting.)

April… Mother’s Day…girls’ day out at the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale… Easter in Ohio… The Chief opens… a trip to Indy with the orchestra…

May… track meet… spring orchestra concert… a family trip to Indy… high ability testing… field trip to Notre Dame… piano recital… elementary graduation… South Bend Cubs game…

Many of these photos brought back clear memories of Luke complaining of his stomach hurting each morning. He wasn’t sure why; it just did. He wasn’t nauseous. He “just didn’t feel well.” I chalked it up to nerves about ISTEP testing or ending his elementary career and going to a new school where mom wasn’t just around the corner…  which was probably wishful thinking on my part.

Then came June…

Last day of elementary school… packing up my 2nd grade room for the last time… another South Bend Cubs game…

Luke wasn’t feeling so well at that Cubs game. The picture shows it. He tried to have fun. But he visited the drinking fountain at least a dozen times, probably the same with the bathroom. And his stomach still wasn’t normal.

S’mores… Rise-n-Roll donuts…

I turned the page…

And I cried.

Seeing the pictures of my sweet boy, who before this week didn’t have a worry in the world- except for that persistent stomachache. He was now laying on the couch. Sleeping all day long. Not able to keep anything down. The poor thing was exhausted.

I relived our trip to the doctor’s office where we almost left with a prescription for Zofran and went home.

I relived our trip to the ER where the sweet nurse sat at Luke’s bedside and explained to him what the rest of his life will be like. “It’s totally doable,” she said. “I’ve had Type 2 Diabetes for years. It’s not the same thing, I know. But I get it.”

I relived the ambulance ride to the children’s hospital, where Luke finally got to sleep. He was so exhausted, yet feeling so much better.

I relived our two and a half days at the children’s hospital, seeing Luke with color back in his once-again-smiling-face… friends & family who came to show their support by bringing gifts, cards, and most importantly, sitting and talking with us… taking the multitude of classes on how to live with Type 1 Diabetes… and us finally getting to take our HEALTHY boy home again…

To be continued…