Family Email

As I reread an email that the family has been responding to, I have decided that I will put in on my blog so I can keep it as a memory. For the summer while the rest of us go about our lives in our respective states and cities, Miche and Linzi are in Bangladesh doing Breast Cancer Research. They started the following email chain (letters are very uncommon for our family, an email is getting hard to come by- so enjoy it when we get it!):

Well hello my family! We still don't know how to say
"hello" in Bangali yet, so I'm still using English.
What is weird is that I don't think that they really
have a word for "hello" because they never greet each
other like that, nor do they say "goodbye". My kind of people.

Just to update you, we are in Bangladesh (i'm sure many of you didn't know that) and it's not quite as uncomfortable as i expected: we only sweat half as much as i thought we would, and we are yet to get diarrhea (although linzi is a 2:1 favorite to be first, for all you betting people out there).

Our first day here started off with a bang! The doctor that linzi will be working with (Dr. Rehana) came and picked us up from our hotel in the morning and we went to her clinic. We saw some breast cancer patients that were hoping to become part of the study (which means they would get free treatment). One of the patients that really sticks out in my mind was a younger woman who had pretty advanced cancer, but she didn't meet the requirements to be a part of the study (her cancer didn't have the estrogen receptors) - and she being poor and desperate, unveiled her breast to show us (linzi and me - assuming that we make the decision since we're the americans) how bad it was. It was heartbreaking because you could feel her desperation by her actions, because I usually have to leave the room when they do the breast exam (since they are very private and modest about things like that), so for her to pull out her breast like that, said a lot. What was also
shocking to me, was when all was said and done and she was leaving, she was very gracious (but visibly disappointed) - their was no anger at us or storming out, which i would have expected. Situations like that have already happened several times, where I've been struck by how genuine and good of a people they are here.

Also that day, the manager of the hospital came in and wanted to take us on a tour of his hospital (it's actually a diagnostic center, so no beds like a hospital, but all the diagnostic equipment). So we went around with him as he proudly showed us how all their equipment was the latest and greatest - and whenever we'd walk into a new room (like the MRI or CT room, for example) the doctor or technician would stop what he was doing and explain the facilities. One moment that was very surreal was when we walked into the endoscopy room and the doctor was in the middle of an endoscopy, looking at a patient's cancerous esophagus, and he turns to us and says "oh yes, come in" and then without missing a beat he starts telling us what we are looking at; meanwhile, the patient is right there gagging on the bed. Then after he is done with giving us our tutorial we start walking out and the patient on the bed waves goodbye.

So things are going very well here! They've put us right to work and got us going on our research - and we have a much better idea of what we are doing - which definitely eases the anxiety that we had. Hope all is T-riffic with you guys.
Love you all,
Miche and Linz
Family Responses:
So wonderful to hear from you!!! Glad that you are safe and sound from your travels :) We are so excited to have you share your next six week with us--but I must say I'm not so sure my heart can take it. It overwhelms with sadness that you are not going to be able to help everyone...we will keep you all in our prayers. We know that this will be such a valuable and worthwhile experience for you and so many others that you come in contact with. What heroes you are to us!

Things are pretty t-riffic for us here--but rather mundane comparatively.Jacob and Ellie are out of school for the summer and Chase has one moreday :) Then it is off to the beach for us!

So...yeah...not much else to say...I mean, you're in Bangladesh saving people's lives. Its a good reminder for me how truly blessed we are--very
humbling.

Take care, we love you and are praying for you,
Heather (and fam)

What? You're on summer break from med school? You're in Med school???!

Nah, seriously, love that you are keeping us posted. But keep in mind that there is a post-partum momma reading, so keep the tear jerking stories to a minimum. My little heart can't take it. Like Heather and Monda said, it makes me feel so blessed and also makes me want to give back more... strap the little fella on my back and save the world on soul at a time. Unfortunately, diaper changing, feeding, nap schedules, crying jags, bouncing, and juggling make that dream a little harder to fulfill (at least in a timely fashion) but I am still in.

Although the Forsythe's aren't not exactly praying for you, we are sending you love and good vibrations. If you haven't felt them already, you should be getting them shortly...we had a bit of a delay extracting a few stragglers that got lost in Sinjin's fat roles. Cheeky little monkey.

We love you and hope all continues on a good path. I am proud to call you family (yes, jared, i am still proud to call you family, too).

Love,
Kimmie, Davey Baby, and Sinjin-pooh

Kimberly, I would dare say you are currently saving the world “one soul at a time” by raising your wee little one. The other day I got this not-so-profound, though maybe quite profound in our day, thought that even though I don’t feel like I get much accomplished by changing diapers, sitting and holding Corban, playing on the floor with 0-6 month toys, reading children’s books (I think I might be getting better at reading for myself), singing lullabies and action songs, making up a few stories and songs here and there, and getting very few (but at least some) chores done around the house,"If I weren’t doing it somebody else would be". Boy am I lucky to be the one that gets to call this my job! And when I see him learning to roll over and just about crawl, when not too long ago he was completely dependent on me, that is when I realize raising children is helping save the world. Look at the accomplishment mom and dad have made with just there 5 children. At least one of the five is giving back in a big way :) Just kidding, I think we all are in one way, shape, or form.

Love the “extracting a few stragglers” line! So descriptive!

Love you all! Keep on saving the world in whatever way you can!

Amanda and my Boys

Hmm, Guess we're the stragglers here, but then you you should know how very busy grandparents MUST be if you-all are THIS busy just being plain old parents.
Yes PK, those good vibrations of yours are coming through just fine, every bit as powerful as the prayers from the rest of us...same process really...just a different name.

It's good to see that you kids are carrying on some of the grand traditions started by your parents 30 + years ago. We spent our Med School summers in poverty stricken Sanpete, cutting up dead turkey breasts and letting two little larsen babies run naked in the yard. And now Miche and Linzi are spending their summer break in poverty stricken Bangladesh doing research on diseased people breasts.
Kimberly is storing wheat, collecting her mother's best recipes, and raving about the great kitchen in the house she wants to buy
Monda traded her career in for days filled with reading children's books and singing lullabys to babies - and never quite getting around to cleaning those pesky windows.
...and those two little naked larsen babies? Well, they're now quite seasoned parents in their own rights. Interesting - this cycle of life.

All pictures were taken at our last family gathering in Virginia/Washington DC in April 08