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At about 5a last Wednesday, Jennings and I stood out front of Sean’s House and said our misty-eyed goodbyes to a place that has come to mean so much to our family. As we turned onto Island Drive, hopefully for the last time as a pseudo-resident, the M Bridge was lit up in all her splendor in the predawn hour, sending us off in style.

We pulled off the outer loop of Charlotte about a quarter till 5p that evening. Not bad considering we lost 45 minutes early in the trip when I-40E was completely shutdown due to an early morning wreck. A slightly illegal interstate U-turn and a sketchy detour later, we were back in business. We were determined not to be late to the party….and we weren’t. We actually ended up a tad early and had to make a pit stop at the gas station near the house until the final arrangements could be made. As we were coming down the main road near our house, Jennings looked around and said, “Hey, my memowee’s coming back.”

The welcome was perfect and the party was epic. L’s vision of what it should be and our dear friend Laura’s execution of said vision blew us away. A small gathering of family & friends cheered his arrival, a DJ provided all the kid’s party hits, a balloon-decorated bounce house was ready for play, there were chicken nuggets and drinks galore, and a photographer to capture it all. The rest of the night was a whirlwind in the best kind of way.

Jennings celebrated by knocking out one of his top front teeth after being on the trampoline for about five minutes. He so casually handed it to Gigi that I think she thought she was getting a spent piece of gum or unwanted toy he inadvertently brought on. Smally celebrated by pounding juice boxes; never being seen without one and often times double fisting them. Caroline, by dominating anyone who would compete in driveway limbo, a newly discovered skill courtesy of the DJ. Henry, by going all out on the bounce house after a giant babloon (according to Charlotte) that was even bigger than him.

Clockwise from top left: Shortly after the arrival…Henry is escorting J with his arm around him. The return of J-man was a news worthy event and we got to give a little interview and plug for St. Jude. That’s DJ jazzy J spinning some sick beats (bonus video if you read to the end). Six out of six Palmers on the bounce house, zero out of six Palmers looking at the camera.

Jennings is doing well at home. He is eating, but it’s still a bit of a struggle. There don’t seem to be any severe gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea; he just generally doesn’t want much to eat. He is basically living on a diet of peanut butter toast at the moment. Today at lunch, looking at his plate of food, he commented, “I don’t know if it’s bweakfast, lunch, or dinnuh.” His weight is down to 17.8 kg, which is close to the low point he hit during transplant. You can pray that he begins to eat better as he hopefully continues to feel better and shake off the last of the viral symptoms. If, God forbid, he has to endure anything else, having some weight on him as a starting point would be huge in handling it.

We found out today that his chimerism from his marrow last Monday is still up at 99-100%, so all good there. We are still waiting on the genetics that show whether or not there are any detectable cells with the MLL gene rearrangement. Hopefully we have that back in the next couple of days and it is negative. We’re currently working with Aimee and Christine (and the rest of the team here in Charlotte) on his monitoring plan for the summer. He was seen locally in the St. Jude affiliate clinic today and will probably only have one trip back to Memphis before we head to the coast in August.

We are allowing ourselves to live in this block of time - we have about five and a half weeks before we hope to leave for a much needed vacation. The incredibly generous family of one of our precious friends has offered their home to us for two weeks in August before school starts back for Caroline. That trip is serving as a mile marker. We are taking the time in between to figure out life at home and get Jennings squared away with the plan moving forward. Anything beyond the trip, stays mostly beyond the trip.

One big example of that is Jennings’s schooling. We have yet to make a decision around that and frankly, have not given it much thought. Really, we haven’t felt pressure or created the pressure to give it thought. Eventually we will have to decide whether to put him in first grade or take a re-do on Kindergarten. Along with that we’ll have to decide whether to enroll him in school with a 504 plan or just go the full on homeschool route. If enrolled, he will not be cleared, even in the best case scenario, to actually go to school until likely next March. You can pray for wisdom in knowing what’s best for him when the time for that decision comes.

Being home is wonderful. It truly is, but Lauren and I both know ourselves too well, and have done this re-entry before, to think it would be all rainbows and butterflies. I was practically paralyzed on Thursday and Friday with the amount of stuff that we had brought home that needed to be put away and the amount of stuff that needed to be done around the house after being gone for six months. Through the grace of God, we have been (imperfectly) battling against those idols of seeking order & control. Lots of deep breaths, lots of re-prioritizing, lots of failing.

We here. We have hope. If given the chance, we will get up and try again tomorrow.

We’ll keep you updated. Lauren, probably pretty regularly on Insta. And me on here, though we’ll have to see at what frequency.

Until then, here’s a few more pics from the last week….and pass the PB sandwiches.

Top left: cousin time on the trampoline…so thankful to have Lauren’s sister and her family close (they moved down from northern Virginia while we were in Memphis). Top right: no, that is not a 5th Palmer that has been discretely left out of these blog updates. Thank goodness. That is our newest niece who was baptized on Sunday and we were able to have a celebration afterwards. Bottom left: Summertime fun in a borrowed blow-up water slide. Sam & Quinn next door said their grass was getting annoyingly lush and green, so they’re glad to have us home. Bottom right: vitamin horns…and looking like an NHL vet with that tooth.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Lamentations 3:22-24

#allinforjennings

Bonus video of the DJ himself 👇👇👇….“yeah, baby!”