Got up this morning and felt… well, normal! Yeah… healthy again! Yuck… chemo on Thursday. Oh, Jeanne, don’t spend time thinking about that… Thursday will be here for sure… don’t waste time dreading it. You’ve got a few days to enjoy feeling really good… days of choosing how to spend them… not just doing only what you can. And after the treatment on Thursday, I will be half-way through!
Some of us from a painting class from last year, gathered together this evening to paint. It just so happens that Peggy is undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. One year ago we were painting with hair… and now we’re painting with little or none! Who knew? Peggy is just as happy and jolly as ever… illness hasn’t diminished her spirit one bit. What fun we all had tonight… painting, laughing, going around the table admiring each other’s work! We’re making plans for another therapy… uh, painting… session again soon.
That’s What Friends Are For
I received a card and letter in the mail from Debby… my best friend from childhood and school days! I should have been the one to contact her, but she wrote to me. Her mother’s death has been so difficult for her… yet she still thinks of me. Debby’s letter both broke my heart and filled me with joy. I cried in both. We live hours away from each other now… and we keep losing touch… and coming back. Debby recounted many of the things that only the two of us know about… funny things we did, trouble we got into, games we played, talks we had, mistakes we made. One of the biggest (and most comical) mistakes we ever made, we made together:
Debby and I were flag carriers in our high school band… we carried the banner that proudly led our award-winning band through the streets in parades and up and down the football field. One night we played our rival… and won! Our band marched up and down the rival’s field, playing our school song. Now, Debby and I are both extremely near-sighted and wore glasses when we had to see (contacts weren’t an option at the time). We did not wear glasses when we marched… wanting to look our very best, of course. Anyway, as we were proudly – straight backs, knees lifting high, smiles wide and bright – marched up and down the field, we began to sense that the sound of drums and trumpets was fading, and then it stopped! We turned around and the rest of the band had marched off the field… only Debby and I had turned around to make one more trip!!! I can’t remember how we left the field… whether we remained “dignified” or ducked and ran. When we reached our fellow band members, everyone was screaming and laughing… and our normally very strict band director, was rolling on the ground holding his stomach, laughing, and muttering the words, “It was the blind, leading the blind!”
Those were the days… images of our whole childhood just flashed through my mind… many of them involving our parents… and Debby’s are both gone. And still I wonder… how do I help her? You know what… she helped me just by writing to me. She can’t take away the sickness… but she did take the time to tell me she cares. I will call her tomorrow.
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