Dinner with the Pollards this past week

The Pollards were friends of a friend of a friend. Casey and I were connected via Facebook after I broke the news about Augie's CHD in this very way. I wish I had better words to describe this period in my life. Avoiding Thesaurus.com, I'll go with: confusing, devastating. Needless to say, I wasn't too enthused about making connections with other "heart moms." I was still ping-ponging between denial and depression, nowhere close to acceptance.

Yet there was something about Casey that led me to take a chance. We exchanged messages and before I knew it, I had signed myself and Walter up for a double-date when we relocated to Houston. She let me know they were from the area and had gone through the experience of having a baby needing heart surgery at our same hospital about a year prior.

The Pollards showing support and dropping off dinner during Augie's latest hospitalization.

The night we met I was eight months round, anxious and excited. We sat out on the patio of the restaurant, taking advantage of weather only Houston could offer in November. We must've talked for 3-4 hours that night. It honestly could've been longer had it not been for the waitstaff cleaning around us and Casey and Justin needing to get home to their two little boys.

Then Augie was born. My heart could've exploded with all the love I never knew I had to feel. It was the holidays and my baby needed heart surgery. Casey's support was relentless. She checked on me periodically and even sent cookies to the NICU (a treat we all really appreciated being away from home on Christmas). She became someone I could vent to and a source for questions of advice.

Casey meeting Augie for the first time!

Since Augie was discharged, we've had many hangouts. We've even been able to meet their boys now that flu season is over. Our visits are short given Augie's strict feeding schedule and the boys have to be careful to look, not touch. But even so, spending time with this family has brought the normalcy we feared we'd have to live without while in Houston. The simple pleasure of being around another young, like-minded family. It's something we may have taken for granted in our life back home the way it was supposed to be.

The Pollards rescuing me and Augie while Walter was away!

Cinco de Mayo...my first time over at a friends house in months!

I could go on for days about how well we get along with this precious couple. We couldn't ask for a better family to be our go-to guide to hospital life and parenthood. They've fed us in and out of the hospital. They've rescued me when I was lonely during one of Walter's trips home. Justin and Walter have enjoyed golf, softball, and a few beers along the way. And Casey has been my go-to for girl's nights and endless paragraphs of venting in the form of text.

Our one outing with no baby...the rodeo!

Justin and Walter at softball

We are grateful for having connected with this precious little family. It's just one more of the many blessings that have blossomed our of the biggest challenge of our lives. Sometimes finding out who your friends are means forming new friendships altogether. Here's to many more memories between the Spurlocks and the Pollards!