It feels diabolical. Before you break the capsule, you have to put on latex gloves. The contents are toxic. When it splits open, the poison snows out in a powdery dust that quickly disappears into a marsh of apple sauce. The best way to conceal any hint of the drug’s bitter taste is to throw in a dash of candy sprinkles. Once added, the mixture stains from pale yellow to electric blue.

“Read ‘Red, but Not So Dead’,” Lucas begged enthusiastically. It is the title of an article about the discovery of methane gas on Mars. He chomps on a wedge of “sunrise quesadilla”, a breakfast he requested; tortilla grilled with cheese and scrambled eggs. He half-stands in his chair, one knee bent upon the seat while the other straddles the floor. It is his normal dining posture, though it drives his mother crazy.

Normal is what you make of it. That which seems boring and sedentary to one human being might summon adrenaline in another. Though nothing in our life is as it was a little over a month ago, a feeling of normality has returned to our family. The days are over-saturated with activities. The kids quarrel, then play, then quarrel again. And Jordan’s indomitable personality holds court upon our house as it has for more than six years.

“I don’t want to take it off!” Jordan ran to a corner, arms folded, crocodile tears streaming down her face. In the opposite corner, Jeanette and I did all that we could to suppress laughter. Jordan clutched her right forearm defiantly. A crusted, dingy sliver of translucent adhesive tape dangled near her finger tips. It was a stowaway from her hospital stay. It once held the IV tubing in place, but now it stuck to her arm like a vestigial organ, its only purpose to collect bits of dirt and grime.

Jordan will return to school on Monday. It won’t be soon enough for her. Saturday morning she whined while sitting at the breakfast table, “why can’t I go to school today?” An explanation of weekday mechanics did little to pacify her, so she ran off to get some “homework”. Of course, Jeanette and I plan to use this episode to our advantage in later years, when it is possible that her academic enthusiasm might wane.