Waiting Game

As a little girl, my mom told me "patience is a virtue."  I didn't care.  I stuck out my bottom lip and continued pouting.  To this day, I am not a patient person. I don't particularly enjoy waiting in line at the grocery store; or waiting at stoplights; or waiting for Christmas presents. It just means I know what I have to do to get by. When I started working at the charity, I was amazed at the continuous amount of patience that these families show. Sometimes, it makes me ashamed to admit that I don't like waiting in the drive-thru for my Big Mac.

Especially since, we have families who have, literally, been here for months. We have one family who has been here since April 13. They have played the waiting game and made us their home. We have watched their other daughter grow. When they arrived, she was just a few months old and now she is walking! They have patiently made several daily trips back and forth from the hospital. They have endured surgeries and setbacks. But throughout it all, they have been waiting to go home and waiting for their precious baby girl to get strong enough to join them.

We have another family who began their stay on July 14. They're playing a double-version of the waiting game. They traveled to Sioux Falls from the southwest corner of North Dakota—Mom, Dad, and Big Sister. Dad transferred his job into his company's local office. Mom works from a laptop in her hospital bed, and Big Sister has found a childcare center that she loves going to everyday. They are incredibly strong...and patient. As of today, they have another four weeks before their twin boys enter the world. Once the bedrest wait is over, they begin testing their patience again with a two-month stay in NICU.

These families amaze me! They do all this without complaints. They take each day moment-by-moment and try not to get upset about things like lines at the grocery store or uncooperative traffic lights. It's because of these families that I try not to either. Each day, they teach me a few new rules to the waiting game. Hopefully, I'll become as great of a player as they already are.

Jamie Martinson
House Manager