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A day with Anya

This winter and spring, Anya spent six months straight in the hospital, except for the two weeks she got to go home for Easter break.  They stretched her leg by 4 cm (1 1/2 inches) and now she is in a soft cast while they wait for the  bone to strengthen.  The doctors check on her progress every few days and she gets water massages about the same. Other than that she has nothing to do.  She just hangs out with the other kids in the hospital.

So last Saturday, I staged a prison break.  We called her doctor and asked if she could just leave for the day, he said yes.  So I showed up at 9 in the morning so that we could check her out.  She had never been to a movie theater, so I thought, We can change that.  There is a nice theater about 10 minutes from the hospital and shows started at ten.  We missed them because it took us an hour to get the nurse to show me the type of note I needed to write.   But Kolya and Halya met us at the theater and we got to watch Star Trek at 10:30.  Anya thought it was cool.  

Afterwards Kolya and Halya paid for us to go to this little shooting range.  They had really sweet pellet guns and these big screen target programs.  They also had a bow and arrow range.  No one other than me had ever shot a bow and arrow, so I had a blast watching how awkward they all were.  I think Anya only hit the target once out of 10 shots.

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at the food court while we decided what to do next.  The options we laid out for Anya were: bowling, going to the city center, going to a really popular park down town, or just shopping in the mall.  Anya wanted to do them all.  So we decided to go to the park first.  Anya was on crutches, but she moved around pretty well.  (She’s been on crutches for almost six months).  We had cotton candy, got to see some really cool views of Kiev, walked across the bridge where Kolya proposed to Halya and sat by the fountain in front of the children’s theater (which I hope we can go back to the next time Anya is in the hospital).  After that Kolya and Halya had to leave, so I got the car and we drove back to the mall.  The plan was that we would go bowling, which I was hoping wouldn’t end up in disaster.  But as we started walking I told her that if she wanted to look in any of the stores, I was fine with that. 

After the first store Anya decided that she wanted to find a dress.  So I, a 31-year-old guy, spent the evening shopping for a dress with a 15-year-old girl.  She started out asking me what I thought, but after I showed her a dress that I thought was cute, she stopped asking me.  There was one dress she found that we both agreed was pretty but it was almost $300 so we hung that up and quietly left that store.  I told her that she needed to come back with Janna or Ira, but I think she was just having fun looking and kept pressing on. 

She only has one pair of shorts, so I did insist that she shop for another pair of shorts as well.  In the end she found a pink dress that she really liked.  I made her wait and think about it and she still really wanted the dress, so I got her a dress and a pair of shorts.  (Yep, I am a sucker like every other guy I know)  We ended up going to the grocery store and getting food for the week.  Anya asked if she could get some apricots, which I agreed to, of course. 

I spent 12 hours with her that day.  Usually, when I visit the hospital she doesn’t have much to say. But that wasn’t the case when we were out and about. 

I asked her what her favorite part of the day was and she said the shooting range.  The guns were easier, but the bow and arrows were more fun.  She had a really great time, and I’m just sad I hadn’t done it earlier.  We were afraid that the hospital simply wouldn’t let us.

Anya is at home this month, but she’ll be back in the hospital at the beginning of June. 

Next time, I’m thinking we’ll go to the zoo and bowling.

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