The last day of the year

Sounds dramatic and indeed, when I was a teenager I used to take it very seriously and spend the last evening of the year observing, reflecting, summarizing the last years' happenings and experiences and writing down my plans and wishes for the new year to come; goals I would like to accomplish, places I would like to visit, changes I would like to employ, knowing that on the next day I was going to start fresh. As I grew up I realized that one doesn't have to wait for the new year in order to start fresh, any day can be a great day to make your life better, happier and more fulfilling. And besides, the Jewish new year is an easier time to start fresh since it usually takes place on September, when you start a new grade in school or when you come back from a long summer vacation, so changing some habits will come more naturally.
This last day of the year we planned to spend with friends, a long lunch that will carry on well into dinner. I left enough food and water supply for our dog, knowing that we might be back late at night, we packed the kids and drove to our friends' house. The kids were very happy knowing they were going to meet their friends and we were happy with the adults' company. There was one thing we didn't consider. Allergies. That's because we haven't experienced severe allergic reactions before, until today. Well, I have seasonal allergies, usually around spring time, but it's pretty hard to tell the difference between my allergy and a common cold. Our friends have a cat, a very cute fur ball kind of cat. My kids used to stay away from cats and especially from this specific cat since he is pretty big. But ever-since we got our family dog, my kids became two little Dr. Dollitles and they have to pet and hug almost every animal around. This is a real positive milestone considering the fact they used to run to the other side of the road whenever a dog would walk by. So even though that wasn't our first time visiting them, that was the first time my kids actually played with their cat. They played with some cats before but never with this specific cat. So before we knew it my daughter came to the living room saying her eyes were burning. One look at her eyes and we immediately suspected an allergic reaction. I thought that some water and eye drops would do but within minutes, before we got a chance to actually do anything, her eyes became so swollen she could barely open them, I guess it could only be due to their cat. The allergic reaction was starting to spread to her skin and we decided to rush ourselves to the nearest emergency room. The only place we knew that was open at this time of evening, on the last day of the year. Our experience with this ER was pretty memorable, the day our daughter was diagnosed with diabetes, I didn't really want to see that place again but we didn't have too many choices. So we drove over there, checked in, received our own room and waited for the pediatrician on duty. We waited, and waited, watched some movies, the kids munched on some snacks from the vending machine. My husband used the examination gloves for balloons, the kids were laughing and gradually, to our relief, the allergy started to fade away, my daughter's eyes weren't swollen anymore, just red. It was getting ridiculous to keep on waiting for the doctor and eventually we got some Benadryl and were released home. On our way out we payed for the parking. "Thank you" said the parking payment machine. "Please come back again soon". Not really the kind of blessing one would like to hear checking out from an hospital, I guess these machines were designed for shopping malls or airports, they should really do some reprogramming there. So that summarizes our last day of 2011, at least this hospital will no longer be linked in our memories to that emotional tough day when our daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, it will just be another hospital.