Just when I get bummed because one of Jude’s favorite friends here leaves, another new friend arrives. Jude’s latest friend is Jude, a 9 year old boy with an inoperable brain tumor. My Jude was really surprised to learn that the new boy was named Jude and said, “I thought I was the only person in the world whose name was Jude.” Jude and Levi love Jude and the older Jude has had my Jude on the floor in a heap laughing.Â
After dinner tonight we talked Andy into going with us to Cascades Park, that nearby park that that boys and I just love. It was really funny. We hadn’t been there for more than 5 seconds when Andy announced, “I found my favorite thing here.” I asked, “What?,” even though I knew. “The bench,” he announced with a smile. So, the boys and I played while Andy got up to speed on his Twitter feed. Then after playing for awhile, Andy joined us on an adventure walk in the woods. Jude wanted to revisit the cannon from a World War (a storm drain pipe) and the sunken ship (metal bridge structure). This time my brave little adventurer wasn’t afraid of lions, tigers or pirates in the woods of Indiana.
After the park, Jude decided he wanted to plan my birthday, which is coming up in a few days.  He wrote a list: (1) Chuck E Cheese’s (he’s never been there before since Andy and I had our 2nd worst pizza there ever and, as Andy likes to say, he’d rather “eat a rice cake with ketchup and cheese on it” than pizza from Chuck E Cheese’s); (2) splash pad; (3) Spider Man cake; (4) choo choo (Levi’s suggestion); (5) super hero toys; (6) party guests; and (7) Wonder Lab science museum. Sounds like lots of fun. I realized that I know I”m getting old when Jude asks if we can celebrate my birthday tomorrow (which is 2 days early) and I respond, “No. I don’t want to celebrate any earlier than I have to.” I may not be 25 anymore, but I don’t feel a day older than that.