Gracie 10 days after the tumor was removed
What I have experienced in the last 15 days since my daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor has proven yet again how blessed I am to be friends with the most generous, smart, caring, and supportive people on this planet.
Thank you to Allison, Ori, Ken, Carla, Sarah, Alison, Scott, and Dave for being in my inner circle, people to whom I could send the most shocking text ever (“gracie has a brain tumor”) in those first few dark hours, people who all immediately found the best ways they could support me – via f2f, texts, phone calls, messages, tweets, blog posts, taking stuff over, and everything else you all did that I don’t even know about. You are all amazing.
Thank you to Allison Nazarian for being the first person I told, who called me immediately as I was still sitting in shock in the doctor’s office, who talked to me on the phone for the one hour drive up to the UCSF children’s hospital. Thank you for being on constant text alert, checking on me, crying when I couldn’t, reminding me to drink water, worrying for me, and every other way you support me every day.
Thank you to Alison Kramer for dropping her life (with 3 kids & her own business) to fly from Toronto to be with me, face to face, in San Francisco for a week. When she texted me the day after the diagnosis asking if it was okay if she came, it was so hard for me to say yes, I felt so uncomfortable accepting such a generous gift of time and support … but I really did need her. Not only did Alison bring Starbucks & breakfast for me every day, and regular snacks for me and Gracie … Alison also brought peace. Alison was a playmate for Gracie, and a friend for me who was 100% on my side. Alison listened to the hospital talk, and also made sure I got out & had fun conversations about anything *but* the hospital. You were an angel for me, Alison.
Thank you to Ken Moorhead for the calls and texts, for immediately taking over my business without asking me (since he knows I would have said no) and for quickly writing a blog post to let everyone know the short version of why I was MIA, even before I could think. Thanks to Ken and Carla Young for doing the heavy lifting of taking over my blog, email, facebook and twitter until I was able to handle it again. Thanks to Carla for being practical and doing research and doing thinking when I couldn’t and for sending an hilarious present to the hospital. Thank you to Ken, Carla, Allison Nazarian, Sarah Robinson, and Johnny B. Truant for volunteering to write guest blog posts to keep ElizabethPW.com online & the traffic flowing. You all made it easy for me to drop everything to just take care of me & Gracie.
Thank you to Ori Bengal for always being available for a phone call, whether to just talk, to listen to my insanity or to distract me with tales of his. Thanks to Scott Stratten for lending me Alison for the week 
, for keeping tabs on what was going on with Gracie, for the video and the texts & tweets & posts on FB. Thanks to Sarah Robinson for keeping tabs on me & supporting me & worrying for me, even as her own life is crazy/awesome. Thank you to Dave for checking on me, grounding me, always getting me, and reminding me that I’m more than a mom with a kid in a hospital. Thank you to Britt for bringing me desperately needed Starbucks, snacks & toiletries & distractions, and tons of toys and craft stuff for Gracie.
And … thank you to all of you.
Thank you for your emails, texts, tweets, @ replies, DMs, phone calls, facebook posts, facebook comments & likes, blog posts, and blog comments. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, wishes, energy work, and rituals.
I really don’t know what I have done to deserve having all of you in my life.
I hope someday that I am able to return some of the generosity, caring, and support that you all have unconditionally shown to me and Gracie.
Thank you, and I love you.
#thatisall
I'm Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, an attorney, mom, writer, and explorer.