<\/a>#7. Zack and Zoe<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m so glad you\u2019re here, Zack,\u201d Grandma Kate said, hugging him and ruffling his brush cut, as her two dogs licked his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I have a drink of water, can we go see the new kittens in the barn?\u201d\u00a0 Zack asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being here on the farm with you and Grandpa Carl,\u201d Zack said, skipping along beside his Grandma as she held her guide dog Finchlee\u2019s harness with her retired guide dog Wheaton following them to the barn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are so little,\u201d whispered Zack. \u201cThey don\u2019t even have their eyes opened!\u00a0 I wish I had another drink of water so I could stay here longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandma,\u201d Zack said with alarm.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with Wheaton?\u00a0 She\u2019s shaking and jerking all over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Dear Gussie. She\u2019s having a seizure,\u201d Grandma said.\u00a0 \u201cMove the bucket away from her head.\u00a0 Let\u2019s wait quietly next to her.\u00a0 When she stops shaking, we\u2019ll go get you your drink and Wheaton her pill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m too tired to go to the barn,\u201d Zack said.<\/p>\n
The kittens may have opened their eyes, but, Zack couldn\u2019t keep his own eyes open.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you feeling okay?\u201d\u00a0 Grandma asked Zack, when she found him curled up on the hearth rug next to Wheaton for a second nap.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack?\u00a0 It\u2019s your turn to move your checkers.\u00a0 Zack, can you hear me?\u201d\u00a0 Grandpa asked.\u00a0 \u201cYou were zoned-out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full of concern, Grandpa remembered that he used to have that happen to him, too.\u00a0 Even now, he had to keep his weight down and eat right.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack, drink some juice,\u201d He said and after a few minutes, they could play checkers again.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa, I beat you at your own game,\u201d Zack laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack,\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Brittany told them after his appointment.\u00a0 \u201cThe tests we did show us that your body has a problem using sugar.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the hospital, Zack\u2019s finger was pricked to check the sugar level in his blood.\u00a0 He needed shots of insulin.<\/p>\n
Zack saw a girl with a kind of helmet on her head.\u00a0 Her name was Zo\u00eb<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate this helmet, but it protects my head when I have a seizure,\u201d Zo\u00eb told him. She needed medicine to control the seizures.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, \u201cZack said, a week later at play group. \u201dDo you want to meet Zip?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Zip?\u201d\u00a0 Savannah asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he your pretend friend?\u201d John asked.<\/p>\n
Zack pulled up his shirt. \u201cLook what I have,\u201d Zack said, pointing to a small box on his belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cell phone,\u201d Savannah said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a beeper,\u201d John said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Zack said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s an insulin pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack,\u201d Zo\u00eb said happily, \u201cyou got a pump.\u201d and thought:\u00a0 I wish I could have a little box instead of this big helmet.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, Zo\u00eb,\u201d Zack said putting his shirt back down.\u00a0 \u201cNow I can eat birthday cake and not get sick.\u00a0 I can run and play without getting tired.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t need any more shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zo\u00eb wondered if she\u2019d ever get rid of her ugly helmet. Zack hugged her and went over to the Star Wars center.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Zack said, \u201cMommy, I finished my breakfast and I\u2019m ready to go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he\u2019d told his Mom the numbers on his insulin pump, she pushed the little button, and they walked to Zack\u2019s Kindergarten.\u00a0 He happily sang a little song as he skipped along beside her.<\/p>\n
They met Zo\u00eb and her Mom walking to school and joined them.\u00a0 Zo\u00eb hoped Zack would notice that she didn\u2019t have on her helmet.<\/p>\n
At school, Karrah asked, \u201cZack, what\u2019s the lump under your shirt?\u201d as they put their lunch boxes in their cubbies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Zip,\u201d Zack said and explained his insulin pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you call it Zip?\u201d\u00a0 Sarah asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cZip.\u00a0 No more shots!\u201d\u00a0 Zack laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoys and Girls, this is Zo\u00eb,\u201d Miss Alexandra said.\u00a0 \u201cHer family has just moved here, so let\u2019s come to our circle time on the rug and get to know each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zack and Grace sat together. \u201cCan I feel your pump?\u201d\u00a0 Zack\u2019s cousin, Grace asked reaching out her hand.\u00a0 Zack knew she was blind and couldn\u2019t see anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, but don\u2019t push any buttons,\u201d he said and put her hand on the pump.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, Zo\u00eb flopped over, shaking all over.\u00a0 Zack went over to move the chair away from her head, then, quietly sat on the rug next to her until she stopped shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you forget to take your pill today?\u201d\u00a0 Zack asked, remembering how Grandma Kate gave Wheaton a pill after her seizure in the barn.<\/p>\n
Later, \u201cM-m-m,\u201d Grace said at lunch. \u201cIt smells like I have a cream cheese and black olive sandwich and a dill pickle.\u00a0 What do you two have?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yum,\u201d Zack said.\u00a0 \u201cI have peanut butter and the strawberry jam Mom and I made on whole wheat bread with carrot curls.\u00a0 My favorite,\u201d Zack said.\u00a0 \u201cZo\u00eb, what do you have for lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a cheese stick and turkey roll-up,\u201d she said, quietly, wishing she didn\u2019t have to put her Helmut back on.<\/p>\n
After lunch, Miss Alexandra said, \u201cZack and Zo\u00eb, It\u2019s time to go down to the nurse\u2019s office.\u00a0 Your partner today is Tyler.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Zack, Zo\u00eb, and Tyler,\u201d the nurse said. \u201cZo\u00eb, let\u2019s start with you and your blood pressure.\u00a0 Very good.\u00a0 Here is your pill so you won\u2019t have another seizure today.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack, what are your numbers now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c7 dot 7,\u201d Zack read from the pump. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty good, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d the nurse said. \u201cSomeday a computer chip will do what your pancreas should do. For Zo\u00eb, a different chip will help control her brain synapses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that\u2019d be great. Thanks ,\u201d Zack and Zo\u00eb said as they left to go back to class with Tyler.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Zack exclaimed when they walked into the classroom.\u00a0 His eyes were wide with surprise to see all the children wearing small boxes: in their sock top, stuck in their waistband, or bumping out their shirt pocket. Grace wore her box as a necklace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you all have boxes?\u201d\u00a0 Zack asked.<\/p>\n
Zo\u00eb and Tyler shared a smile.\u00a0 They were in on the secret box project, but, she too was surprised to see all the children had on a balloon ring that looked a lot like her helmet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to have our own Zips and helmets,\u201d Matthew said. \u201cNow we can all be cool like you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh you guys!\u00a0 You\u2019re the best friends ever,\u201d Zack said grinning from ear to ear, as they all lined up for recess.<\/p>\n
Holding Tyler\u2019s hand, Zo\u00eb was grinning, too, because she felt the same way Zack felt:\u00a0 happy and accepted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There? By Kate Chamberlin As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they\u2019re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1045,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}