Field Day Update and Sappy Post

Field day was a success! I know I ended yesterday’s post on a downer note, but really everything turned out OK.

I misunderstood what the teacher said yesterday about his lows. Instead of the 60s, his sugars were 74 and then 76, which is not really low, kind of. We normally treat low-but- not- really- low sugars (only those with D understand what that is) with a few fruit gushers. That’s exactly what the teacher did, but with very little results. So, I told her to go ahead and give him a juice box to go on and get it up.

It worked wonderfully. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but there were not any other lows and no highs at all. The only complaint Riley had was that after drinking the juice his teacher made him sit in the classroom for 15 minutes so he could re-check his sugar before going out to field day. I told him that she did the right thing because if his sugar was already low he didn’t need to be running around until it came up. I think he understood, but didn’t like having to wait when no one else did.

At the end of the day they treated all of the kids with icy pops. His teacher didn’t know how many carbs they were and she wanted Riley to be able to participate. So, she found out where they were purchased and called the store and had them look at the box for her and tell her the carb count.

They were only 4g and he was able to have one along with the class. Riley was thrilled. I am so pleased that the teacher thought to do that for him. It would have just been easier to tell him he couldn’t have one. I’m not sure she even realizes how significant that one gesture is.

She called me this morning to let me know that Riley said he felt low and when he checked it was 145. But, the machine didn’t beep like it usually does so she had him check it again. The next two checks were 129 and 101. She called because she didn’t know if she should trust the machine since he took the sugars so close together and they were so different. I told her that there was a margin of error with the machines. I told her that since it was only an hour and a half after breakfast he still had plenty of insulin floating around and that even if his sugar was 145 he probably still needed some gushers to keep him from dropping. I told her to give him 4 gushers (about 8g carbs).

An hour later she called back and said he was now 174 but the machine still didn’t beep when he checked his sugar. I told her that since it went up with the gushers then I was going to trust that it was working correctly and that I felt she could trust it unless his lunch sugar was just totally off the wall. We have to have a sort of blind trust with these meters anyway.

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Now, I want to talk a little bit about my other baby.

We attended Holden’s last athletic banquet on Monday. Then, we attended his last academic banquet last night. Everything with him over the next few weeks is a last.

He got a few awards last night. He got an AP literature award, a public speaking award, a Presidential scholar award, and a Spanish award. He also received a scholarship from the Parent Teacher Organization in the amount of $500. I’m really excited about that one. College is expensive and living away from home is going to be expensive also.

Holden only has (counting today) 3 more days of classes. Due to his grades he’s exempt from all of his exams except one, Calculus (math has never been his strong suit). He takes that next Thursday morning and then he will be done with his high school career.

Holden attends a small private school. He’s been there since Pre-school. I’ve known a lot of the kids in his class most of their life. The fact that Holden is graduating is sad, but the fact that I won’t be seeing most of the kids again is sad too. I’m going to miss them too.

Holden’s best friend’s name is Daniel. I can’t remember when Daniel started school with Holden but I’m thinking around the 4th grade or so. Anyway, they’ve known each other a long time. And, all that time they’ve been best friends. Daniel is a great kid and when I say that I really mean it. If I could handpick Holden’s best friend, Daniel would be who I would chose. He is smart and talented. He’s attending college next year on a partial athletic scholarship to play baseball. He will either be the valedictorian or salutatorian at graduation (pending final grades).

He and Holden are alike in so many ways. I am so glad they found each other. I don’t know how to put this the right way, but there are a lot of “wild” kids in Holden’s class. Many of these kids are the way they are because their parents allow them to be. Daniel’s parents have always held him to a higher standard. And, Daniel has always tried to achieve that standard.

Holden’s a good kid. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not perfect. I’m not one of those parents that say “My kid wouldn’t do that.” I believe anyone is capable of anything. None of us are immune from wrong-doing. It is human nature. But, Holden tries to do what is right. I think he has a good set of morals and tries his best to stick to them. Daniel is the same way and I think throughout the years he’s been an encourager to Holden. When everyone else was at the wild parties Holden wasn’t the only one not there, Daniel wasn’t there either.

At the academic banquet last night Holden and Daniel kept making faces at each other across the room. I looked at Holden and said, “I wish you two were going to the same college.” He nodded his head and said, “Me too.”

Daniel will be attending college about 4-5 hours away from Holden. I really hope that they keep in touch. It’s possible. I’m still in contact with my best friend from high school and I graduated 17 years ago. She was a couple hours away from me at college, but we spent a few weekends here and there hanging out together. We drifted apart for a few years, but like true friends we put aside our differences and now we email each other on a regular basis. I even saw her this Christmas when she came back to visit her mom.

“I’m going to try and spend a lot of time with Dan this summer before he leaves.” Holden said this to me a few days ago.

I know how he’s feeling. He’s trying to grasp on to whatever time is left, trying not to let it slip through his hands, but knowing that it’s going to.

That’s how I’m feeling now. I want to slow down time. I want to relish every single minute I have with Holden. I want the summer to last forever.

But, I know that instead of slowing down, time will seem to speed up and the summer will fly by. The next couple of weeks are going to be tough. My eyes tear up at the drop of a hat now. All it takes is a snapshot of Holden when he was younger, or a line in a song, or even two best friends making faces at each other across the room and I have to hold my breath to keep my composure. Sometimes that doesn’t work.

So, be warned, you can look forward to some more sappy posts about Holden over the next few weeks.