When my seven-year-old daughter was in the hospital, fighting severe pneumonia, my neighbor decided my lack of Halloween decorations was somehow offensive. So, she “decorated” my front door—with rotten tomatoes. Her reason? Apparently, not having put up Halloween décor was unacceptable to her.
Life has been relentless lately, to say the least. Between double shifts at the diner and spending every free moment by Lacey’s bedside, I’ve been surviving on little more than caffeine and determination.
It all started with what seemed like a common cold. Lacey came home from school with a light cough, and by Friday, she was running a high fever. As she struggled to catch her breath, she whispered, “Mommy, I don’t feel good.”
That was the moment I knew this was serious. I didn’t wait for an ambulance—I wrapped her in a blanket and drove straight to the ER as though my own life depended on it. Because it did. Lacey is my life.
The ER was a blur of words like “severe pneumonia” and “aggressive infection.” The doctor confirmed what I feared: she’d be in the hospital for weeks, and the bills were mounting. Between working double shifts and staying with her at the hospital, I barely had a moment to breathe, let alone think about holiday decorations.
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