There were many years when Mark and I planned our springs and summers around weddings. Weddings of his friends, my friends, family members. Weddings in Cleveland and Chautauqua, Chicago, Florida, New Orleans and Boston. And then suddenly, right when we were complaining about too many weddings, they stopped. We got old, I guess, and as […]
… one to go. All went well today, except that everything took way longer than expected (I’m amazed that I still somehow expect things to go as scheduled). But Austin was a trooper — it is so much easier to wile away half a day in waiting rooms at this age than when he was […]
Tomorrow are Austin’s one-year scans. He’ll have his usual procedures: labs drawn, followed by an abdominal ultrasound to look at the liver and kidney, followed by a chest CT, followed by a visit with his oncology team. And we’ll follow our regular schedule: a normal morning at school, then lunch at the fountain outside the […]
Early in Austin’s cancer journey, when I first requested wishes to transcribe onto the stars dangling from his hospital room ceiling, several people mentioned “homemade cards” in their wishes. As in, “I wish you live long enough to make plenty of homemade cards for your mom and dad.” At that point in my parenting career, […]
Those life moments, the ones you remember in great detail for all their spectacular-ness, like my fifteen minutes in the Blue Grotto, are not always the ones you’d expect. For me, at least, it was not my wedding day, which was incredibly special and incredibly spectacular, but it wasn’t one moment. And it was definitely […]
I happened to catch a quick story on MSN yesterday, one of those slide show things, listing the eleven worst tourist traps in the world. It was your typical stuff: The Leaning Tower of Pisa (been there, definitely a tourist trap), Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market in Boston (been there and plan to bring my […]
The fascinating thing about that last day of chemo a year (and two days) ago was that we didn’t know it was our last. I remember the day pretty well and I mentioned it in this post. You can see that I never said anything that sounded triumphant or victorious, I never used the words […]
One year ago today Austin had his last dose of chemotherapy, now making him officially “one year out” from the end of treatment. And halfway there. Of course, nothing is official until he has his next round of scans which isn’t scheduled until May 12 because of the difficulty coordinating the various procedures he’ll have […]
I’ve just finished reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, an author whose books I’ve been disappointed by in the past. Not this one. It’s been out for years now and I was actually encouraged to read it by friends before Austin was even born. Then my mom read it following Austin’s first round of […]
Did I really say that I don’t mind washing the sheets every other day? Okay, fine, I take that one back. And another thing (this one positive): Austin’s doc said we can ease up on the dietary restrictions, which is obviously great news. Especially since we’ve already been easing up on the dietary restrictions. Now […]