I mentioned in my previous post that my husband had been traveling back and forth to Spokane to see his cousin that is in the CICU there. Back in July, Joe went in for a heart surgery to repair his valves. He is in his early 30's and his father had just breezed through a very similar heart surgery and recovery, so we all thought Joe would be in and out of surgery with time to start recovering before his first niece was born at the beginning of August. Things with the surgery didn't go as planned, the doctor here in Alaska didn't expect his heart to have so much damage. To make a very, very long story shorter, he was flown via emergency life-flight to Spokane along with his mom. Since being in Spokane, he has had multiple steps forward followed by terrifying steps backwards. He had a mechanical valve put in his heart because his heart wasn't working, they planned to put him on the heart transplant list as soon as his other organs started coming back on board. We all can only imagine how life altering this could be but we didn't care, our Joe is alive.
Then a miracle happened...his own heart started working again! Even the doctors don't understand how or why but Joe's heart began beating on its own. After a few more scary surgeries, I am happy to report that Joe is on the recovery route again. His own doctor, his biggest cheerleader, says the laws of physics do not apply with in Joe's room in the CICU. More than once during this whole time period we have been able to say, "it's a miracle" or "the power of prayer is amazing!". We continue to pray for his organs to come back on board 100%, and he has a long road ahead of him but we all believe he is headed in the right direction! If you are a praying person, continued prayer for Joe's healing process would be greatly appreciated!!
Anyway, on to the care package. I knew that the family that is with Joe over the holiday would be missing their traditional Hebert Thanksgiving food (oh my goodness, I could go on and on about this family's cooking!). Since I can't pack up Granny's rice dressing or turkey to send to them, I went back to what I know. Desserts. Our family is a fan of fudge, chocolate pies, chocolate cakes...basically most things chocolate. Fudge seemed like the logical choice to send to Washington. So I made the fudge.
I gathered other items to add to the box.
The baby clothes are for Joe's niece who is just 3 1/2 months old. How could I resist these little turkey clothes? There is a little turkey on the bum of the pants...adorable!
I got these free printables from Pizzazzerie to add to the box. I love the coloring of the printables but also the verse. Our family has so much to be thankful for any normal year, but this year even more!
Using a large flat rate shipping box, I started packing. The fudge is the heaviest and largest, there is some pumpkin bread and chocolate covered pretzels in bags (with raffia to match the printables of course).
I layered in a box of black tea, more chocolates, the baby clothes (wrapped in tissue), and a card for the family and one for Joe.
I put the large printable on last so it will be the first thing they see when they open the box.
This is just a small, inexpensive way of sending some love (in chocolate form) from afar. We love and miss our family dearly! Next Thanksgiving we will be back together again!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
-Amanda
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