We have a great family. We know we do. We need to apologize to them right now. Our last blog post hurt a lot of people in the family. That was not our intention. Our praise and thanks in the post were meant for our loved ones. We were very careful with our wording and trying to keep things positive but we realize it didn’t come across that way.
The sadness we felt during the election was specifically related to the belief that sometimes it is OK to do immoral things for a moral cause. If you feel that doesn’t apply to you, then it wasn’t meant for you. I can see how our post sounded like a blanket judgment. Really we were writing about very specific circumstances. It made us so sad partly because it was so rare.
We’ve had a lot of chances lately to talk to family and friends about political issues. We are sincerely grateful to everyone for sharing their beliefs. We keep coming to you or asking you because we respect you! Our family members are good examples of people who care about this country and want to see it moving in a moral direction. We agree with them 100%!
We don’t all agree in our political opinions. But that’s not what’s important, is it? The important thing is that we value each others’ opinions.
Elections seem to get tougher every year. There is always some crazy person willing to make sensationalist claims, and there is always a reporter willing to pretend to take him seriously. For example, this election, we learned that Obama is a Marxist, and that gays might marry in Mormon temples. But that’s part of life in a democracy, I guess. You have to be able to laugh off the attack ads.
When people we know spread false claims, it hits much closer to home. I’ve talked to people that think it is OK to stretch the truth a little when the stakes are so high. One person justified a little bias by asserting that the other side was worse. When the negativity and loss of faith in politicians’ integrity affected some of our loved ones it made Elisa and I so sad that we felt physically ill. [Corrected from: “It is the negativity and disillusionment of our loved ones that has made Elisa and I so sad that we felt physically ill.”]
So I want to give a big thank-you to all those that took the time to do their fact checking this election season. Thank you to those that valued truth over sensationalism. Thank you to those that made their decisions with charity and not anger. Thank you to all those that scrutinized their opinions and listened to criticism. You all know who you are, because it has been a taxing couple of months for you. No matter what side of the issues you take, I hope your voices get more prominent every year like you deserve while your opponents become more marginalized.
No matter what the rest of the world believes, we owe it to ourselves and our causes to be fair and honest every time. It makes our positions stronger, not weaker. As voters we want to make educated decisions. We need to encourage others to make educated decisions by being straightforward. Otherwise we are undermining democracy and our own part in the process. Stretching and bending the truth may commonly be found in politics but they really have no place there. Maybe you’ll recognize this quote from A Man for All Seasons, which to me says that even our biggest detractors deserve to hear us treat the issues with integrity.
Roper: So now you’d give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast — man’s laws, not God’s — and if you cut them down — and you’re just the man to do it — do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.
Just after finishing our first date, my mom and sister watched Eden so we could go on our second date… to the University Hospital emergency room. ๐
This little story started on Sunday night while we were getting creamed playing Phase 10 together. Elisa doubled over in pain. The intensity was comparable to childbirth for her. After some online diagnostics and a call to a friend we called a taxi to the emergency room. (We tried to rent a car, but the rental company’s computers were down. So I wasted 15 minutes trying to get a car from them before they said it wouldn’t be possible. But today someone really nice called and apologized, and offered to pay 50 Fr. of our taxi fare to the hospital.)
At the hospital they ran some tests. Eventually they sent Elisa to a gynecologist for a complete exam. And then they sent me to the radiologist for an abdominal ultrasound. All the tests came back normal. That was a relief but it’s so hard to not know what’s wrong. The pain killers really helped make her comfortable, and eventually the pain subsided. At 6 am the doctors still didn’t know what was the problem was, so we went home to sleep. Elisa and my mom and Eden and I had all been at the hospital all night waiting for news. Luckily before I went to the hospital I was able to express some milk for Eden. But she slept most of the night anyway. Too bad we couldn’t sleep!
I really tried to make the best of being in emergency all night. The doctors were great. They taught us new German words like “รลbelkeit.” There were a few times when the strong meds were wearing off or just starting that I got really nauseated and dizzy or my vision was blurred. That was too bad. ๐ [Jordyn: At this point she actually said her “blision was blurved.”] However, even though I felt terrible, the transportation in the hospital was awesome. They hooked Elisa’s gurney up to a hospital golf cart and cruised around through the deserted hallways for 10 minutes to get to the distant gynecological ward.
At 3 pm today we got to have our date. ๐ The doctors wanted to repeat some of the tests. We left Eden with my mom and Jordy and a full bottle of milk. I barely woke up in time to catch the train. The hospital was busy and it took hours for them to take care of us. They eventually came up with an explanation. We’re going to return on Thursday to confirm that the problem is resolved.
It looks like Elisa passed a gallstone on Sunday. Ultrasounds show that there are no more stones to worry about for now. The hormones in her body from pregnancy probably made the problem worse. We don’t know yet whether Elisa is going to have to worry about more gallstones in the future. (Although if she does, I read claims that they are pretty valuable).
