Last week sometime I was on my way to Tooele to pick Nathan up from a friends house. (Funny how driving into town I feel like I'm accelerating through the gates of Hell). Before I went to grab him I stopped to visit a good friend that I haven't seen since we moved to Midway.
She greeted me at the door much changed from what I remembered. Nearly bald, and pale, and tired, and absolutely beaming to see my long-absent face. The last time I'd seen her she'd had curly, long brown hair, an energy about her that was contagious. Although I'd spoken to her on the phone the day before, she hadn't told me. In fact, through my absence she hasn't complained about anything.....and I find her just finished with her last round of chemotherapy, her two adult sons living at home to care for her, her job gone, her finances more than difficult.....still smiling and shining and with such strength of spirit.
...Got me thinking about the things I'm doing actively and the things I've been putting off or down right neglecting.
The things I want to teach my kids but have just been doing myself because it's easier and less frustrating than to walk them through it. Books I've wanted to read. Naps I've wanted to take. Food that I meant to eat earlier in the day so that I don't eat everything right before bed and really pack in the potential for acid reflux.....
So with a light heart I'm able to say tonight that the laundry is folded and put away. The kids are in their rooms if not actually in their beds. (In the boys room it is too noisy for me to believe that they are trying to be restful)! The dog is washed, my brother Richard and I are getting ready to start the 3rd book in a series of 4, and instead of having half a pint of Ben & Jerry's right before bed?...I had a piece of summer squash with brown sugar melted on the top. (Prepared by Reed, my vegetable hating German meatitarian).
Happy?.....Oh YES!!!......kids need kissed good night...Mom to the rescue!
She greeted me at the door much changed from what I remembered. Nearly bald, and pale, and tired, and absolutely beaming to see my long-absent face. The last time I'd seen her she'd had curly, long brown hair, an energy about her that was contagious. Although I'd spoken to her on the phone the day before, she hadn't told me. In fact, through my absence she hasn't complained about anything.....and I find her just finished with her last round of chemotherapy, her two adult sons living at home to care for her, her job gone, her finances more than difficult.....still smiling and shining and with such strength of spirit.
...Got me thinking about the things I'm doing actively and the things I've been putting off or down right neglecting.
The things I want to teach my kids but have just been doing myself because it's easier and less frustrating than to walk them through it. Books I've wanted to read. Naps I've wanted to take. Food that I meant to eat earlier in the day so that I don't eat everything right before bed and really pack in the potential for acid reflux.....
So with a light heart I'm able to say tonight that the laundry is folded and put away. The kids are in their rooms if not actually in their beds. (In the boys room it is too noisy for me to believe that they are trying to be restful)! The dog is washed, my brother Richard and I are getting ready to start the 3rd book in a series of 4, and instead of having half a pint of Ben & Jerry's right before bed?...I had a piece of summer squash with brown sugar melted on the top. (Prepared by Reed, my vegetable hating German meatitarian).
Happy?.....Oh YES!!!......kids need kissed good night...Mom to the rescue!
1 comment:
Cancer is such an awful, horrible disease. It affects way too many people that I know. And yet, I'm always amazed (and humbled) when these people who are suffering more than I can even imagine are able to smile, be happy and look on the bright side of things. It definitely helps put things in perspective.
Now if I could only remember that EVERY day, instead of just once in awhile.
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