Discovering Death

I get a phone call a few weeks ago. Its dear Mrs. Fultz. Saying her name that way suddenly makes her 62, but she's not. She's Emily's first grade teacher.

Emily has a peanut allergy.

Its not as bad as Brandon's. Any exposure whatsoever and B gets a Twinject, adult dose (he's 11) and a 6 hour trip to the ER.

Do you realize how fast you get in when you use the first Twinject dose, and then get the second one ready (remember the phrasing "Twin" in Twinject), and show up at the ER holding the exposed needle and saying, "My 11 year old son was exposed to peanuts. He has swelling in his throat, nose, and all over his face. He's throwing up. He's having a difficult time breathing." Everyone drops everything and we get all the attention.

I don't particularly like the attention, but Brandon is not one to ever turn attention away.

Less digressing . . . . Emily has been allergy tested for peanuts and she's a 2 to 2 1/2. Brandon is like a 10, on a scale of 1 to 4. But we don't know exactly her symptoms progress. So, we've informed her of sensible eating habits when away from home.

Apparently we've scared her so much, that she won't eat at school.

Apparently this had let to her being a major hypochondriac.

I hear little feet going 90 miles an hour down our stairs. I'm in the kitchen with Lisa and I say to her, "Here it comes."

Or maybe I said, "And here we go again."

Whatever. . . but I'm sure it was witty because at least inside my head it was.

She runs in the room screaming, and I mean screaming (if you know the REAL Emily, you know what I mean. "Mom, I'm having a heart attack!!!!!!! I am going to die!"

By this stage in, well, her stage of discovering death, I have become quite numb to it. If you knew her, and all my kids, you would understand. Exaggeration was taught to them all in secret by whom I have yet to determine. But I think genetics is really to blame. Jonathan can't tell a story without a bug becoming a giant tarantula.

(No offense Jonathan.)

In the movies - Mall Cop - at one of the most pivotable points (its such a deep inspirational experience that I was saddened by the interruption) Emily feels a bit of reflux. Too much popcorn.

And it starts.

And it ends 2 minutes later.

Well, ended in the theater, when she started screaming, "I'm gonna die! Take me to the hospital! I'm gonna die! Call an ambulance!"

Why we couldn't have seen Pink Panther, I do not know.