As many of you know I'm in the States and in the middle of our relocation from the East Coast (outside Washington DC in Maryland) to the West Coast (Sacramento, California) my husband of 27 years was dx with Multiple Myeloma. We have spent this last year shuttling back and forth from our new home to LIttle Rock, Arkansas for his medical intervention. We are all done with that now, two SCT later! YAY! Dave is doing AMAZING and when we got home for our last big trip I received an invitation for a Sorority Parent Brunch for my daughter at the University of Maryland. I have missed EVERYTHING for her these past 15 months (she's very active) and so as much as I didn't want to spend the money, nor pack a suitcase yet again and get on an airplane AGAIN, I found a cheap ticket and went out for her event. She was SCREAMING on the phone when I told her I was coming. Evidence that she has been such a trooper but was so excited that her REAL Mom was coming and not my best friend who has been her 2nd Mom Stand In! Anyway, I had a fast a furious 3 full days with her, my son, visiting my old co-workers and lunch with my boss (when I worked there). Then back on the airplane at the crack of dawn to get back home. It was a blast. We went to the Brunch, her diving practice, a musical presentation of one of the teammates, and I made chili for the whole team in her apartment. Then my son picked me up and we filled up his gas tank, took him to the grocery store and he took me back to my friends house so they could take me to the airport the next morning. It was too short, but I was both exhilarated and exhausted. We will see them again at Christmas for a scant 6 days, because Montana has to be back for practice even though school is on winter break. Their season begins heavy in January/February.
I'm very proud of both of them. My son will finish in June and he is growing into such a delightful young man. I tease him now, that while I always loved him dearly, that now I actually LIKE him! haha (He put me through my paces when he was a teenager! ARGH!) He was GRINNING. He has found his passion in college and is excited about his life and his future endeavors. Its what we hope for for our kids. One down. My daughter is happy and working hard and I'm sure she will also fair well. Its been a hard year on all of us with us moving away and then their Dad getting cancer. But they have done what I asked them to do, which was to study hard, stay out of trouble, handle their own problems and to let me take care of their Dad. They have flourished and it has been a HUGE load off my heart.
Life needs to continue forward for others we love, while we are fighting for life and limb, literally. It can mean it is lonely for us at times, but we (or I anyway) can't have others stopped in time just because we must. So as Dave and I have come out the other side of this now, and we look around, we see that our children are growing up into lovely young adults and it gives me hope. We did good and it is a tremendously bright spot in our otherwise, not so bright lives this past year.
Best,
Lori
