FAMILY FIRST
FAMILY FIRST
Good Heavens! After writing about all the help I am getting from my friends I realized that my first line of defense is, of course, my family. Here they are:
My husband Bob
My son Michael, wife Claudia and 3 mo. old granddaughter, Chloe
My daughter Kelley, husband Tim and granddaughter Hannah, 3 1/2 yrs.
Second Tier:
Bob's daughter and grandson, Suzy and Mason, - 16 yrs.
Bob's other daughter and her husband, Dee & Pete,
Rusty, Bob's son, Theo, his wife, and Grace -14 yrs., Russell - 11 yrs.,and Jack, 6 yrs.
They have been, and are continuing to be, there for me through thick or thin. Michael even flew up to go along with Bob and I when we met with the oncologist to hear the full scoop on what I was dealing with and what to expect. Kelley said some downright beautiful things to me when she first found out and she is now journalling on her own blog about how it is affecting her.
It's a pretty heady thing to hear your children, now adults, sounding so grown up and knowing that the torch is passing. They were both pretty "wild" kids - especially Kelley, who was a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Dead Head for a number of years. I doubt if she will ever go through a mid-life crisis like I did -- she did all her flying while she was young. Now it's hard to believe she was ever that crazy. And Michael did his share too. After all, he went to school in New Orleans (Tulane) and it's pretty hard NOT to go nuts down there! I am so, so lucky to have them and I am so proud of what they have become, in spite of the bumps and obstacles I put in their path.
And then there is my long-suffering husband, who has been through this before with his first wife, who lived for many years in a wheelchair, an innocent victim of MS, and finally succumbed to ovarian cancer. That doesn't seem fair, does it? All the more reason to fight this fucking disease! He feels the rug being pulled out from under him and he clearly does not want that to happen. Move to a smaller house - NO! Take on more of the responsibilities - uh, what responsibilities? He is not ready for that, but I am and therein lies a nagging problem that will, at some point, have to be dealt with. Not right now, though; I don't have the energy for it. So let's just take some time out to enjoy watching the kids tobagganing, or admiring a cool snowman... Weather report for tomorrow: 10 to 18 inches of snow!
