'Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen
Often times, around our dinner table (or just sometime during the evening) our family likes to discuss each of our highs and lows for the day. I love it, as it encourages me to stop and reflect on the life that I live each day. Today has been one of those days where the highs and lows were so pronounced that it is hard for me to get my head around. The low came in the form of an imessage from my Mom.
My brother Matt, and sister-in-law Jennifer had an appointment with the oncologist today, to assess the status of her breast cancer, following her double mastectomy a few weeks ago. Their appointment was at 8:15am, and we had heard nothing by 11:45, so all of us were sending each other messages, and getting more anxious. What we learned is that the cancer has moved into her lymph nodes, and they will now begin running scans to determine if it has spread further. It is worse than what we were anticipating. In addition, Jennifer will go through many weeks of chemotherapy over the next few months. Damn it. This is the low. This is terrible.
This news haunted me, and made me physically ill for much of my day. I love them so much and want to help - but like most people before me, it is hard to know where to begin. After school Noah and I picked up Avery and came home. I was struggling at sitting around the house so we walked over to the library and picked up some great Mo Willems and Shel Silverstein books. We returned home, and I started dinner. It was at that time that the boys did something they have never done. They both sat on the couch as Noah read these new books to Avery. They talked and looked at the pictures together, and just enjoyed being around each other. They were laughing together. It was beautiful. This is the high.
I teared up as I watched them - not sure if it was because they were just enjoying each other, or because my heart remained heavy from the earlier news. I do not even care why.
'Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen
Often times, around our dinner table (or just sometime during the evening) our family likes to discuss each of our highs and lows for the day. I love it, as it encourages me to stop and reflect on the life that I live each day. Today has been one of those days where the highs and lows were so pronounced that it is hard for me to get my head around. The low came in the form of an imessage from my Mom. My brother Matt, and sister-in-law Jennifer had an appointment with the oncologist today, to assess the status of her breast cancer, following her double mastectomy a few weeks ago. Their appointment was at 8:15am, and we had heard nothing by 11:45, so all of us were sending each other messages, and getting more anxious. What we learned is that the cancer has moved into her lymph nodes, and they will now begin running scans to determine if it has spread further. It is worse than what we were anticipating. In addition, Jennifer will go through many weeks of chemotherapy over the next few months. Damn it. This is the low. This is terrible.
This news haunted me, and made me physically ill for much of my day. I love them so much and want to help - but like most people before me, it is hard to know where to begin. After school Noah and I picked up Avery and came home. I was struggling at sitting around the house so we walked over to the library and picked up some great Mo Willems and Shel Silverstein books. We returned home, and I started dinner. It was at that time that the boys did something they have never done. They both sat on the couch as Noah read these new books to Avery. They talked and looked at the pictures together, and just enjoyed being around each other. They were laughing together. It was beautiful. This is the high.
I teared up as I watched them - not sure if it was because they were just enjoying each other, or because my heart remained heavy from the earlier news. I do not even care why.
'Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen
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