Louana the Second

My sweet mother is in the hospital now awaiting surgery on a tumor in her spinal cord. It really sucks that I’m so far away and can’t really be there for her. She has already forbidden me to use my frequent flier miles to come home... Several times. She wants me to save them for her 50th birthday in two years, which she deems a much better occasion to come home for. 

So I needed to think of another way to be there for her in this terrible time, so I’ve created a mini-me:

She’s actually much prettier and cuter than me and the only things we really have in common are our long brown hair and the mole next to our noses. I’m a little jealous of her and she gets to travel really cheaply, her plane ride to the Netherlands was less than $10!

Yasu really likes her too, so it’s a good thing I sent her to my mom, so that Yasu doesn’t have to divide his attention between us.

My mother opened her package with mini Louana in it today, in her hospital room in front of the Skype camera (hospitals these days are pretty modern). And she loved the doll - it took her a while to recognize who she was, but the mole did the trick - and she even cried when she read the purple note hiding in the doll’s tummy pocket!

My mom has never been the over-emotional type, but ever since she’s been in the hospital and on lots of morphine she has no problem sharing her feelings with us. She’s become quite sentimental. It’s a bit funny but I like it. And now my mom has a way to hug me whenever she wants.

Translation of the purple note: “My name is Louana the Second, and I love my sweet mom very, very much. Unfortunately, my mom is in the hospital right now and not doing well physically, so she needs many hugs from her daughter (Louana the First). But Louana the First lives quite far away, but don’t worry, there is a connection between us, kind of like an invisible USB cable, or WiFi, or even better LouFi! So when you hug me really hard, the hug will travel through LouFi and be received by Louana the First just moments later! Oh, kisses will travel through LouFi as well!”