Love of Laurenisms

I feel that a lightening of tone may be in order as my story has not been an easy one to write and I imagine has also been difficult to read. So I'd  like to introduce you all to something our family has always affectionately referred to as "Laurenisms". I fully realize that all children say cute little things that make families laugh and some even jot them down in baby books to remember for all time. I know this is not unique to my child but this blog is about her so you will have to bear with me.
Lauren had a tendency to make words up. For example, Ray and I had the hardest time breaking her of saying "lastday" instead of yesterday. Which actually makes a lot more sense. At Christmas time she sang her own version of Jingle Bells in which the verse went "Jingle bells, jingle bells all da all da way". She would also pronounce words interestingly including donning her "babing suit" for swimming or requesting "somping" to drink from the kitchen. When Ray and I were shopping for travel trailers Lauren would ask if we were going to look at more "carhouses." Again, made sense.
The very first time Ray and I left Lauren with my parents for an out of town trip for the weekend I was missing her immensely. This was my very first time away from her over night. We were visiting Ray's father up in Jacksonville. I was still attending college and had taken time to fit in some studying at the dining room table. Ray was in the kitchen and I asked him something. He responded in typical Lauren fashion by saying "What? What? What you say?" It made me cry. I was already missing her and hearing him use her tag phrase made me miss her even more. She used this saying so much when she was little that my sisters even joked that we should honor her now by getting tattoos of this famous Lauren response. My oldest sister would get "What?" tattooed on her body (exact location never discussed), my middle sister would also get "What?" and I would in turn tattoo "What you say?" on myself. Then when we stood together it would spell out the entire phrase that my special little girl used instead of just saying "HUH?" or "What?" Leave it to my sisters to sign me up for the longest portion of the epitaph on my delicate skin. Needless to say we were just brainstorming....there will be no tats.
Sometimes Lauren would use the wrong word. Like the time my mother asked what she wanted on her pizza when they were in a restaurant. Lauren proceeded to tell her she wanted bologna. My mom asked if she was sure she wanted bologna. Lauren said "Yeah, you know those circle meat thingys on pizzas"....."Uhhh, you mean pepperoni?" my mother asked.
But I think the ultimate story of switching words was from when Lauren was in the 5th grade. Yes, old enough to know better. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to work at several schools where Lauren was able to attend with me. It just so happened that I worked at her school when she was in the 5th grade. Therefore I was known by all of the faculty and staff. I never called in sick. When you have young children you very rarely can afford to utilize a sick day on yourself. I had ignored my own deteriorating health condition to the point that I developed pneumonia. The doctor gave me an option....he would check me into the hospital for a few days or I could to take time off to rest. I gave my word, received a nebulizer with medication, and was sent on my way. Ray proceeded to take Lauren to school as I remained home to rest and recover.
About two days into my respite I started receiving strange emails and phone calls. The tone of these messages implied a greatly inflated level of concern for my current medical condition. I thought "Wow, I work with the nicest folks."
It wasn't until a phone call from a concerned colleague that the root of the issue came out. As I was chatting with this coworker she seemed very worried about me. She inquired when I was going to start "treatment". I was puzzled and the only thing I could think of was the nebulizer. "Well....I just finished a breathing treatment and that seems to have helped a great deal." "Really!" she gasped. "That's what they do for this now?"
OK...now I'm really confused. What in the world is going on here. So I had to ask..."What exactly do you think I'm dealing with here?"
"Well Lauren told us that you have leukemia."
Really? WOW!!! We NEVER let her live this one down.