Southern Love

Picture this:

As soon as word got out about Laura, all those who have loved her so well in Leesburg FLEW into action.

Somebody got the key to the house. Sheets were changed. The house was cleaned. Food was prepared.  A refrigerator was rented to store the extra food (!). The grass was cut. The yard was "tidied". Vases of beautifully arranged homegrown flowers were placed in every single room in the house.

Then all those same people anxiously awaited the arrival of the rest of us so lots of hugs could be exchanged.

That is a picture of southern love.... one of many... 

And it continues.

One of the best people I have ever known in my life died this morning. I can't quite grasp it. It still doesn't seem real. 

I am so thankful that I saw her just last week...

I am thankful for her good friends and my good siblings and her children who have loved her fiercely and many of whom were by her side when she left. I am thankful that I was able to tell her I love her before she let go.

Many of you have been a great support to our family and we are more thankful than we can say.

I'm on my way to Atlanta now. All of her children are together and my siblings are together, too... It will be good to get there to hug them for real.

We are deeply sad, but thankful that she no longer has to fight. She has won.

I am picturing her right now on heaven's front porch with Mama and Papa. It's a peaceful thought. 

Available

Through the years I have thought about getting a "real" job... I was happy to be able to be at home when my girls were little... I thought I'd go back to work when they were in middle school or high school. And then Harv was diagnosed with cancer and I was thankful that I could be at home to help him and go to appointments.

I still often wonder about working, but it occurred to me the other day -- through more than one circumstance -- that maybe what my job has been and should continue to be -- at least for now -- is "available."

Thankful that "available" is an option for me.

Family

Here's something I know. It is a wonderful and powerful thing to have a church family.  I've seen singles turn into marrieds. I've seen those marrieds have children. I've seen those children grow up. I've seen wise and wonderful people get older. Families have grown. We've shared sadnesses and joys. We've gotten frustrated with each other. We've laughed together.... shared meals together...and a glass or two of wine sometimes. 

I don't really understand or totally agree with everything in the Bible or everything that my church and my denomination believes....

But this I know: When I go to church, I feel embraced way down deep in my soul. I love looking at the congregation from where I sit and seeing families in "their" spots. I love seeing children grow up. I love being moved by the music and trying to absorb the message that is preached.  I love the awkward "passing of the peace" and the smiles and hugs that go with that. I love sharing my life with people who also struggle --- either with the same things I do or with different things. I love that my children have formed what I hope are life-long friendships. I love that they have a safe place to explore their faith.

Doubts will continue for me, I'm sure. But there is something extremely mysterious and awesome about a church family... It brings something inexplicably SOLID to life in the midst of many questions.

****
And, P.S. -- I feel this way about the church where I grew up, too. Family then. Family now. Family forever. Amen. And amen!

No news is pretty much always good news

Just a quick note to let you know that (1) the radiation seems to have helped shrink the tumor enough that Harv is no longer having shoulder/neck pain and (2) the steroids seem to be helping with shortness of breath, etc.

Harv has taken a few good walks this week and feels energized and motivated to take on some minor house projects. And, work has picked up steam and he feels good about tackling that as well.

So...there you go!  

:-)

Check-up

My daffodil bloomed! Yippee!!

We went to Seattle today for blood-work and a check-up after Harv's radiation treatments.

The symptoms he's been experiencing so far since radiation are mostly fatigue and some shortness of breath or it might be more accurate to say that he is out-of-breath easily with exertion (i.e., walking to the mailbox and walking up the stairs).  He hasn't had a huge appetite, though he has been eating pretty well...just smaller portions pretty much. He's had really long naps in the daytime and has been able to go to bed early and sleeps most nights all night long.

There was some concern about his shortness of breath when I first reported it, but they thought it might be anemia -- which can happen sometimes with radiation. 

Dr. Lin looked at his blood-work and took all the recently taken "vitals" and thinks that maybe the shortness of breath is something called radiation pneumonitis. So, he gave Harv some steroids and said that we should know in a few days if that's what it is. If his shortness of breath improves in a few days, then we'll blame it on that. If not, Harv will need to get a CT to rule out other possible things.

His CEA is down a bit and the rest of his blood-work looked good so we're kinda thinkin' it's radiation pneumonitis.

That's pretty much it for now. 

Love you, peeps!

Radiation Is Finished

Last Wednesday was the final day of radiation. The photo above only shows a few of the staff who came out to watch Harv ring the gong to signify the end of radiation. There are about 15 people you can't see.

He's been feeling okay, but the fatigue lingers. He has long naps in the middle of the day and goes to bed pretty early. Yesterday he got out for a walk -- the longest he's had since he started radiation.

Not much else to report for now. We go in next week for a check-up with Dr. Lin and to see what the next steps will be.

Thank you, again, to all of you who helped with the driving. 

Thank you to all you for following our journey and for loving us.