Jordan was admitted to CHLA this afternoon. The team will be running several tests. Hopefully, she will come home soon. She’s under mild sedation because she was very agitated at being in the hospital, and disoriented from the seizures. She’s resting comfortably.

My phone chimed. It was an email from Jeanette. “Jordan did great.” A tiny smile expanded to a broad smile on my face. The girls were back at CHLA this morning to restart Jordan’s chemotherapy after a four-week break. Sometimes Jordan gets anxious about being accessed through her port. We spent a lot of time over the weekend prepping her. Each time she’s accessed she has a chance to win prizes Nettie collects in advance.

You know you love the girl when you can close your eyes and picture her, riding belted in the car with a brimming grin and a chatty verse. You know you’re smitten when you can imagine her vivid blue eyes smiling in a landscape of noise and all you can do is sigh. When the sound of her giggle moves you to lower your head and grin, you’re hexed.Her eyes gush with life.

The journey did not begin with cancer. It did not begin with tumors or with headaches or with stealthy genetic malfunctions waiting to emerge. In truth, its origins reach further back than the birth of my daughter. The journey began some 89 years ago, when a country girl named June first greeted the world with strong lungs and a cry of perseverance.She was the youngest of three sisters who she would outlive by more than 20 years.

He wanted a dog. The feeling welled up when his bare feet walked across the taunting wet grass. It tickled when he sat on the sofa and imagined a panting, slobbering friend at his feet. It called to him when he lay on his bed and closed his eyes and imagined playing catch with an energetic bundle of muscle and fir. The boy wanted a dog.

Oh, and Luc wanted one, too.