4th of July

Christi & Shayla with the Ronald McDonald House Families, July 4th in NYC, 2003, watching the fireworks with the NYPD on the pier!

Shayla was thrilled to find her friend from last year as soon as we drove into the condo. We visited with her parents last night, poolside, while the girls put on water shows for us. Friends are a great blessing! I took a break from my writing yesterday to get the mail. (I guess I needed a punch in the stomach.) The UPenn Hospital (the adult hospital, beside CHOP, where Christi received those horrific radiation treatments to her brain and leg at the very end) sent a bill. Yeppers, nearly two years later. Shayne's insurance paid all but $4,000 of the $38,000 bill but we owe $4,000. I guess I'm a bit miffed because it's been almost two years and I thought we knew where we stood with everyone, but also, it was absolutely horrific for her - being bolted to a board with a hard mesh mask over her face, leaving marks on her little face. Having to be alone in a dark room, she was terribly frightened. And....it didn't do a thing to hault that evil cancer. I think it should have come with a guarantee. "We won't charge you if it doesn't work." (LOL!)