Kids say the darndest things.

Friday evening, I received a phone call from my niece Laura. She started the conversation by asking if I was working the following day (which is never a good sign when it comes to a phone call from one of my nephews or nieces). Apparently, she had forgotten about the ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) choir contest she was required to attend Saturday morning, and needed a ride to and from the contest seeing as both her mom and step-dad were working. My sister's children are notorious for forgetting about events and springing them on you at the last minute. Although I was scheduled to work on Saturday it luckily was not until later in the afternoon, so I told Laura it would be no problem for me to take her to the contest.

Afterwards, I decided to run a couple of errands and take my niece to lunch at Steak 'N Shake before taking her home. As we were leaving the school parking lot, my niece gave me what she tells me is the highest compliment you can receive from a teenager. She said, "You're cool to be seen with in public."

How about that. I'm cool to be seen with in public. :-D

Another Friday evening spent at Riley Hospital.

As some of you already know, Friday evening my 13-year-old niece Laura was rushed to Riley Hospital in an ambulance. Laura had been at the Brickyard Festival at the Knights of Columbus on 71st Street and Keystone Avenue with her friend Mikaela and Mikaela's sisters, mother, and grandmother. Laura, who like many other members in her family suffers from social anxiety, was uncomfortable being around the large group of people at the festival. She was handling things fine until she ended up standing too close to a grill and began coughing because of all of the smoke. When Laura couldn't breathe, she started to hyperventilate, and then she had a panic attack. The paramedic said she was shaking uncontrollably and fading in and out of consciousness (however, she does not recall this - she swears that she was merely dizzy and needed to sit down, and that she was fully aware of what was happening the entire time). Laura's stepfather rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital while my sister followed behind. I arrived at the hospital shortly after everyone else, having been at home when my sister called to tell me Laura was being taken away in an ambulance. We were at Riley until about three in the morning, but Laura seemed to bounce right back and is doing well now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who was praying for Laura on Friday night. I am extremely thankful that it wasn't something more serious!