Recently a sentimental item was broken in our home while cleaning. A handmade Ukrainian egg my mother had passed down to me many years ago. It smashed into many little pieces and was unrepairable.

But earlier that morning (around 4:30am, MUCH earlier that morning), Odessa was at the Alberta Children’s Hospital being treated for severe distress due to Croup and a high risk ear infection. They were worried about an inflamed trachea making it very hard for her breath and her ear drum rupturing.

I have never seen Odessa in so much pain.

She was inconsolable.

I was concerned we would have to wait a long time in the Emergency waiting room considering our system is so backed up with sick kids at the moment. But fortunately we were rushed by the nurses into an admitting room the second we arrived at Emerg. Then not even 10 minutes later a doctor quickly administered Odessa medications. She was given Dexamethasone (a steroid often used for Croup to relieve the inflammation of her vocal cords and trachea), a high dose of Infant Tylenol (acetaminophen), and an oxygen mask. If they did not see an improvement after two hours they were considering taking her to the ICU for intubation.

Thankfully, Odessa returned to her normal social self two hours after the medications were given. She was exhausted but finally calm and smiling at the doctors. Three and a half hours after we arrived at the hospital, we were on our way home to go get some rest.

So when the Ukrainian egg broke later that day, I didn’t even bat an eye.

Sure it was something very special, but the perspective of my daughters health in jeopardy made me realize nothing else mattered.

The stuff is just stuff.

The people we love are everything. ❤️