I came up with a plan today or goal.

My plan is to return to the MN CF clinic 3 times a year, roughly once every four months.

I also decided to schedule my PFTs routinely there as well.  I want it to be as close as a controlled study as possible.

Last time I got up, did 2 puffs of my allergy inhaler, did my treatment, then in that next hour, I did 2 puffs of my bronchodilator inhaler to really open my airways. I did my PFTS right away in the morning. MN always takes note how long since your last treatment and inhalers.

They also recommend doing the test close to the same time and on the same machine to have similar calibrations. The machines can fluctuate even a couple percent. They note which machine and like to be as consistent as possible. So, that is what I decided.

I may swing in another PFT/clinic appointment here as needed. My doc will want to see me at some point – it has been a while and just the fact at times I will need to in order to stay on top of everything.

Then, I may move my PFT and clinic appt to Waltham because the times are just not working out. I am going to try it. I think the work combination, appointment thing is too much.

That’s the goal. I feel pretty good about that.

I have also been thinking a lot about family trees. Not mine so much – but trees.

I have been watching Finding Your Roots on PBS. It is hosted by the amazing Professor Louis Gates Jr, and such noted and celebrated guests have been Maya Rudolph, Bernie Sanders, Laura Linney, Robert Downey Jr., Amy Schumer, Kevin Bacon, Paul Rudd, the list goes on. It’s in its fifth season. It’s phenomenal.

It traces people’s genealogy. These peoples family trees unfold into unimaginable stories – stories you could not write, link, arrange or take apart.

In one such noted guest, I am not going to tell you here name, you should watch instead; her ancestral history started in Quebec in 1670.

A quick synopsis:

In 1670, there were six men for every one woman. Quebec was basically owned by France at the time, and the King of France decided to pay women, in the means of a dowry to travel to Quebec and find a man, marry, and to populate. They were called “Daughters of the King.” Many of these women did not have means – obviously, otherwise, they wouldn’t need a dowry or travel across the ocean if they had means.

Once they crossed the sea and landed in Quebec they went to this place called a dormitory in which they could meet their future husbands. The “Daughters” could ask questions of the men, the means in which they will provide, and they could choose the man they wished to marry. In France, they typically had arranged marriages or you became a nun.

This guest’s ancestor who was only 14 at the time when she left France. Then, just after two months of being in Quebec, she married a man of 31. This was not unusual.

From the ages of 14-28, she had six children under the age of eleven. Then her fateful husband died.

She then remarried two months later – and then had eight more children! A total of 14 children! She lived until the age of 57, while many women did not live past 45.

Her lineage – the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in which she left was a total of 94 descendants.

I hope as the children aged – all of them, she got to sit down and put her feet up, have a little tea or whiskey.

Another family tree I have been thinking about.

I have a friend in MN and she and her husband first began fostering two children. I do not know all the deep details – however, they then decided to adopt the children.

Through this process they then met their siblings and the children’s grandmother. The grandmother did not want the children to be separated –

So, with all their hearts, their means, their love for the children – they adopted all four children. This happened in two and half-year timespan.

They went from zero to four children. The oldest just finished fifth grade, then the second finished fourth, first grade, and then the youngest.

Whenever I see the kids’ pics from swimming to eating, to smiling my heart melts. They have their own beds, clothes, backpacks, toys, stuff, their brothers and sisters, and now a mom and a dad. They have their own, self.

They have these roots now. They are growing their own family roots. While they lie in bed at night, all tucked-in, they can close their eyes safely.

Zero to four kids in two and a half years.

Huge hearts – endless love.