Split Time: Happy Mother's Day, Sweetheart!

Alright, so it is Mother's Day today, and it just so happens that I have a few moments to reflect on what an incredible wife and mother April is (and has been)! Perhaps sharing the date that we had this past autumn may illustrate my point a little better.

It was a weekday evening when we procured a baby sitter and dined out at the new (and only) Italian restaurant in town. The food was decent; it was neither spectacular nor awful . . . but acceptable (which given our options here in Kirksville does not really say much). The waitress asked April, who was pregnant with Elias and in her second trimester, if we would like a table -- as she was unsure if a booth would comfortably accommodate her. We took the table, but not without acknowledging the hole the waitress had just dug for herself.

Earlier that day at school I had catheterized a rat; this time around, though, catheterization was anything but routine. Though I had done it several times previously and was quite comfortable with the procedure, I was not able to foresee the problem that I would encounter -- as I was unaware of the secondary vessel that branched off the carotid artery. It can be quite difficult to complete the procedure when working in a pool of blood. The bleeding from this secondary artery was so severe that I thought he was going to pass on and into the tunnel of light -- but he did not, at least not at that moment! As April and I were enjoying this time together away from the kids, my mind kept drifting to the lab and to the rat that was -- hopefully! -- recovering from both surgery and the loss of blood. With 40 min left before the baby sitter was "off the clock", I asked April if we could swing by school and check on the rat. She graciously obliged!

Feeling just as much invested in my research project as I do, she accompanied me to the recovery room. When I opened the door and looked over towards the fiberglass cage, I could scarcely believe what I saw: Mr Rat was sitting atop the cage! Not only was he managing to recover well, but he managed to push open the metal wire covering that latches on to the side of the cage. It was unbelievable! Had I not checked on him, it is difficult to know where in the building he would have ended up and if, at all, we would have found his whereabouts. He literally could have wreaked some serious havoc, not to mention the thousands of dollars in experimental mice that potentially could have been destroyed as a result! (Note: rats and mice do not co-habitate well; rats are very territorial and will typically kill mice when given the chance.)

That night I drove home noting just how fortunate I really am -- as there are not very many women who would have obliged me the way in which April did! And without any complaints, too! Thank you, Sweetheart, for making my life much more meaningful and exciting than it would be otherwise! I look forward to the many more adventures that await us --

The following are just a few pictures that capture, I feel, the true spirit of motherhood! Happy Mother's Day!