cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Diane Cluff, Maxine Shirts via mail.
"By far the most important thing to happen in my life this week was the birth of our first grandson, Ethan Evans Nelson (0011.html). He was born about 8:00 PM on Tuesday the 25th of July (which happens to be Andrea's Mom's birthday). Ethan weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/02_BenSarah/000725_Ethan.jpg). Sarah was in labor for about 9 hours and in hard labor for about 3 hours. I'm told by her mom that she is fine. The Benjamin Bengt Nelson family (http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/02_BenSarah/000725_Family.jpg) is beautiful in my eyes.
Last night I was contemplating my navel, while waiting for Matt to finish a second round of laser tag, and I realized if we would have made Ben's middle name Ethan, instead of attempting to create a multigeneration heritage with the name Bengt (my grandfather's middle name, his father's and his grandfather's first name), Ben's initials would be BEN. Ben you sometimes remind me of a toy gun one of my childhood friends had, and I'm still glad your initials are BBN. Besides, this is also the initials for Bolt, Barinak, & Newman, the government contracting think tank that put the @ sign in Internet e-mail addresses, developed the SpaceGraph (a true 3-D display device we purchased for the Seismic Accoustics Lab), and was the home of my friend Albert Boulanger (../9803.html, ../9821.html, ../9830.html, ../9831.html, ../9852.html, ../9908.html, ../9922.html, ../9937.html, 0001.html, 0004.html, 0011.html, and 0026.html) before he started working for Roger Anderson at Lamont. I still anticipate there will be a time when our heritage will be an important part of your life.
If Ethan's birth was such a singularly important event, why didn't I use a title for this Thoughtlet like First Grandchild, Grandpa Nelson, etc. Mostly because I will save those until I have the chance to meet Ethan, or until he says the words Grandpa Nelson. Also, because in my experience, even when there are wonderful things happen, if, as the proverb goes, the ox is stuck in the mud, the first thing to do is to get the ox out of the mud so he will be there to help tomorrow. Then there will be time to have a celebration. In the meantime, the next most important thing to happen in my life this week is the fact Audrey had an Appendectomy this week.
Tuesday morning Audrey left for Utah with Marie Sneidman. She had finished her first summer's work at BakerBotts, LLC., and felt she needed to get back to Cedar to find a job and arrange for her apartment. Audrey, if our house is as stifling as Rob says it is, maybe you just needed to get away and get some air. What ever the case, when Audrey and Marie arrived in Denver she was doubled up on the seat of the bus with abdominal pain, the bus driver called 911, and she was taken to Denver General Hospital, the 3rd best trauma hospital in America. We learned the hospital and staff could not believe Audrey didn't smoke, drink, and that there was no chance she is pregnant. When I heard this I thought about my two summers in Denver (1970 and 1973: ../9728.html, ../9729.html, ../9732.html, ../9735.html, ../9934.html, ../9937.html, 0015.html). These were the days of motorcycle gangs, the introduction of pot to American society, and as I look back, it was not a safe place to live and work. Based on my experience in other downtown areas, I'm sure there has been no significant improvement over the intervening 30 years. And here is my step-daughter, who I have come to love as dearly as any other person in my life, alone with those who can with some reasonable justification be called the trash of modern society, hurting, alone, and scared. I want to be there to comfort and protect each of you, any time you feel like this, and yet I realize that is not how this test, called life, is set up. We each get to stand in our own light.
These words have deep meaning to me, and before continuing with the story of Audrey's appendectomy, I feel I should divert my words a little and give scriptural context to the last sentence above:
And lastly the scripture that proves the Lord is a Texan:
I know Audrey was a light in the hospital. Audrey, you were not creating light, the kind of self-justification that comes with pride or wickedness, nor were you believing in the arm of man, and you were not in the hospital as a judgement. Rather, you carry a genetic trait which your Mom and your Grandfather also have, which means you needed to have an appendectomy at about age 20. It would have been nice to have this happen at home, and yet who are we to question when The Lord chooses to let us face a trial. When our faith is tried like this, we discover in whom we trust, and where our strength comes from. Audrey, it does my heart good to know The Lord, Jesus Christ, is your pillar.
Three other thoughts before continuing with Audrey's story. Each related to the fact there are others who have gone through the trauma of an appendectomy.
When I was about 10 years old I also had severe stomach pains. I remember being taken to the doctor's office, I assume Doctor Farnsworth, and I remember it was up some narrow stairs. It seems like it was above Bulloch Drugstore on main street. I remember they did a blood test, and I remember the Doctor having me look in the microscope at the results. I remember he told me if the cells formed an `X' it meant I needed to have an operation. They formed an `X'. I remember they were very worried about me walking back downstairs, and they put me in a wheelchair and took me to an elevator. This makes me think it was at the Old Hospital, which is now The Dixie Leavitt Insurance Agency Headquarters down the street from Aunt Sara's house. I remember being told later that when they opened me up my appendix burst, and the operation was very close to being too late. I have a picture of my appendix somewhere, and it never made sense to me that I had this picture of what they cut out, and yet was told the appendix burst. Mom, maybe you can clarify this for me. The picture was of an item several inches long, looked like a link sausage, and was full of the kind of worms you get from eating raw pork. I remember not liking being in the hospital, and that the nurses had to set up chairs around my bed to keep me from sleepwalking to try to go into my Mom's room. I remember Ray Gardner coming and visiting me in the hospital. I believe this occured before Randy Shirts moved to Cedar. I do not remember any prayers, or a priesthood blessing, nor anything of a spiritually comforting nature associated with my appendectomy.
Andrea was on her mission in Japan when she had her appendectomy. I will wait to send this Thoughtlet until she gets back from Denver, so she can describe the event more completely. I'm sure it was at least as traumatic as Denver Central. The language differences are enough to create concern. Then you add on top of that differences in medical approaches and there is plenty of room for worry. Andrea has told me how much it hurt, and how she told the nurse how much it hurt. A Doctor came by and the nurse told her how much Andrea was hurting, the Doctor asked how much pain killer Andrea had been given, and when the nurse told her, he answered in Japanese, assuming Andrea didn't understand, `Well that is the right amount for Japanese, but not for a fat American.' Andrea said she started laughing and it just caused it to hurt more. She has also mentioned the comfort and peace accompanying the procedure because of a priesthood blessing provided by some of the Elders serving with her.
Peter Duncan described the appendectomy of one of his friends daughters. His friend is a medical doctor. The daughter was on a tour in Russia when she needed the operation. The Russian Doctors put her on a cold stainless steel dolly naked, put her in the hallway with all of the other patients, and finally did the operation. It turned out OK, and it was, to say the least, traumatic. Peter also mentioned his Grandmother's is Audrey, and it is a very special name to him.
So Wednesday Andrea gets a call from the bus driver saying he has called 911 and had the paramedics pick up Audrey and take her to Denver General. By the time Young Men's and Young Women's had started we knew Audrey was in the hospital, we knew they were running tests, and we knew they were going to keep her in the hospital overnight for observation. Andrea had not been able to talk to Audrey, and she was second guessing not wanting Audrey to ride alone to Utah with her friend Rob, the airline attendant. Audrey called Wednesday evening and told she was OK. Thursday morning at 5:30 AM, she called again to tell us the Doctor had just been in, and he was going to do an appendectomy at 7:30 AM MST. Andrea had found enough of my mileage on Continental to get to Denver and back, and she tried to make the 7 AM flight. It was full. She ended up leaving at 7:25 AM to catch a 9:30 AM flight.
When she got to Denver and finally got a rental car, she drove to the bus station to get Audrey's bags which were not checked through to Provo. Paul ended up having to hassle the bus terminal in Provo to find and get the bags, and then to send them down to Cedar with Kate's Mom. Thanks Paul and Kate. Andrea found the bus station a scary place. She stood in one line and then another, and thanks to an undercover policeman finally got the bags. The policeman told her what a good trauma unit Denver General has, and how they take all of their gunshot victims there. In case none of you realize it, these are not comforting words to a mother. Audrey was in a room with three other women, and the hospital was absolute mayhem. The operation was a success, and her appendix was swollen from a normal 1/2 cm to 1 cm. I still haven't reconciled these facts with the picture of my appendix which I have carried from Cedar to Salt Lake to Dallas to Missouri City to West Houston and which is burried in a box in the garage. Oh well!
Andrea stayed with a missionary companion Thursday night. This was the companion who stayed with her in the hospital in Japan when Andrea first went to a hospital the pains subsided and she was released. She was transferred to a new city a few weeks later which turned out to be a blessing because the hospital in the new area was a large teaching hospital where the head resident had studied at the University of Utah. Andrea's companion and family live in Westminster, just northwest of Denver. Friday morning Andrea realized how bad the room Audrey was in was, and the fact she could not get any sleep the night before with kids running in and out and all of the commotion going on. The Doctor agreed to release her, and Andrea got them a LaQuinta hotel room up in Westminster. I had a free night coupon, and so they only had to pay for one night. Audrey, I'm sorry I woke you up a couple of times when I called. I'm glad you got some rest, and were feeling OK. Andrea arranged to fly Audrey to Salt Lake then St. George this morning, and for Nate and Heather to pick her up and take her back up to Cedar City. I expect I will know more by the time I send this later this evening. Andrea added some clarification, and it is sure good to have her home. As Rachel said at church, `It isn't good when you are gone, nor when Mom is gone, nor when you are both gone. There is just something missing.' It is sure nice to not be alone.
I knew that Andrea's missionary companion had called and made the arrangements for Elders to go by Denver General and to give Audrey a blessing Wednesday evening before the operation. Also, during one of our phone conversations Andrea mentioned the Elders came by to see Audrey Thursday morning to see how she was doing. I have already written a thoughtlet about priesthood blessings (../9914.html). There were three I specifically remember. Once when I was the Elder's Quorum President in Dallas and Mike Fletcher and I gave a blessing to a young man who was crop dusting and whose plane crashed. Once when I had the same position in Maplewood 2nd Ward and a non-member husband of a ward member had angina (a swollen blood vessel in the heart). I remember this blessing because he reminded me of it several times, stating his problems had gone away after the blessing. Yet the most significant blessing, I can't remember the details of. It seems like John Chipman came over to Saint Paul's to help administer. Yet it might be it was just me giving a father's blessing. I just know how scared I was when Ben aspirated (breathed in) amniotic fluid at birth, and was kept in the hospital for several days. I do remember after the prayer, feeling comfort and knowing he would be OK.
The rest of the week seemed as exciting and traumatic as Ethan's birth and Audrey's appendectomy. Monday Rob moved over to the Amason's, who just got back in town from vacation. There were several phone conversations about this. Monday afternoon Andrea and I went and spent an hour and a half with John Cates, who has spent the last 25 years working with people fighting addiction of one kind or another. I wished I would have met him when I lived in Dallas and was caught up in being a workaholic between Mobil and church. Of course, scientists did not know all that they know about saratosin, and addictive diseases then, as they do now. We went to a group called Climber's in the evening. In a similar way to how I feel PAIRS would benefit everyone in our family, I feel this is also worthwhile. Tuesday evening Andrea picked up Rob and met me at the Lifeway meeting on Memorial Drive. Wednesday evening at Venturing Scouts we edited pictures Austin Beckstrom took of the Habitat Houses so we can use them to build a virtual reality model. Since Andrea was in Denver, I picked up Rob for the Sugar Land Lifeway meeting. We went out to dinner at Fudrucker's after. My first time at a Fudrucker's. Good steak sandwich. Not much conversation, and it is very hard for me to realize I need to stand back, not try to fix every little thing, and just be there for support when I am wanted.
Friday evening Matt had Jared Bartlet come for a sleepover. They seemed to have a good time. I went to the store, and made punch for the Habitat For Humanity Venturing Project Saturday morning. We had 11 folks help with Habitat. I-10 was closed between I-45 and Highway-59, and I ended up getting lost on the way there. We moved piles of dirt in preparation for landscaping of the houses. I only worked there from 8:00 until 9:30, and then I had to go into work at Continuum. It was interesting they only worked until lunch break, Exxon-Mobil was there again and had extra Jason Deli sandwiches and punch, so the kids did not eat their lunches nor drink the lemonade I made up.
Work has been also been a challenge this week. CoReExplorer(TM) (0030.html) is coming together, only very slowly. Because there wasn't much I could do, I went to The World Future Society most of Monday and Tuesday. The talks I attended were wonderful. I also gave my talk on The Impending Obsolesence of Maps on Tuesday morning. I have not had as many positive comments on a talk ever before. In fact, there have been e-mail's and one guy called me from Pennsylvania yesterday to make sure I was sending him a CD of the talk. I left the meetings both days thinking it might be time for me to change my profession and start to pursue my avocation (hobby) of building a new type of city full time. There are a lot of folks the ideas that have been planted in my head resonate with. Tuesday after leaving the office and before Lifeway, I had dinner with Riley Skeen and Steve Joseph. I have suggested Riley as a good guy to run the Entrepreneural Dude Ranch Steve and Roger Anderson are working on setting up in Wyoming.
Thursday was the long anticipated meeting between Western Lithograph, Consolidated Graphics, myself, and Exxon-Mobil Upstream Research. It started off really bad. However, it turned out pretty good, and one of the attendees called me up and we set up a follow-up meeting for Tuesday, August 15th (0034.html). They are interested in my big ideas about an ISO-14,000 compliant (green) oil company that can respond to the Kyoto Accord. I spent every spare minute during the week working with developers, reworking my paper for the SEG in Calgary (0033.html), and creating presentations for the SEG booth on Collaboration and on Affordable Immersive Reality. I felt sick during the week, took some cold-eeze, and felt better. Friday during CoReExchange I gave the presentation I am scheduled to give at the SEG in Calgary as a practice. It seemed to go over OK. Afterwards, Peter Duncan stood up and went into this diatribe about how I have been a missionary my whole life. He talked about how this was the role I played at Landmark. He admitted I came up and gave a talk in Calgary, which he personally disqualified from being a best paper because it was too commercial. Then he said, my role at Continuum continued to be as a missionary. As he told the 30 people in the room I always have been a missionary and always will be, I stood up, went behind the podium, got invitations to the open house for the Houston Temple, and invited everyone to pick one of them up. It was really quite funny.
I must admit I was really tired, and went to bed early on both Friday and Saturday night. After I got home from Habitat and work on Saturday, and before I went to bed, Matt talked me into taking him to LaserQuest on Westheimer. I remember cutting an ad out of the newspaper when they first opened that place 10 years ago, and wanting to go try it out. This was my first time to go, and it was fun. Noisy, but fun. Matt got 238 and was 9th and I got 286 and was ranked 7th. As I waited outside, where it was quieter, for Matt to go through a second time (Grandma Shirts sent him $10 for his birthday which is Monday), I realized how I never have learned how to play. I feel guilty if I am not working. Oh well!
Friday night I called to see how Ethan, Sarah, and Ben are doing. Only to find out the three of them had gone to the hospital, and Ethan has a temperature of 100.5 degrees. There was some confusion initially, and I thought it was 105 degrees. Sara later called and said he is fine, the temperature is down, and they are just keeping him there for 48 hours as a normal percaution. It is scary to see a new baby, and our hope for the future, come into this unforgiving, hard, and cruel world. Hopefully he will be big and strong and physically, intellectually, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually ready to handle the challenges of life when they are dished out. Even if those challenges mean an appendectomy."
