With a twist

Today for lunch, we packed up a picnic and took my mom to the park (first post-hospital outing!!!) and we started remembering all the times we would go to my dad's work picnics in Milwaukee. My mom was telling us about how she would always win the three-legged race. We talked about how nice those parks in Milwaukee were. I have this very distinct memory of running up to a group of people watching someone walk across this river--right before a waterfall--in one of the parks. I remember grabbing hold of the hand next to me, thinking it was my dad's, and asking, "Is he going to make it?" And then I looked up, waiting for my dad to respond, only he didn't respond because he wasn't my dad, but a bad imposter. And then I looked at the person walking across the river and I realized THAT was my dad.

My mom is off chemo this week (two weeks on, one week off). Her oncologist gave her a shot of Procrit on Thursday because her hemoglobin was low ... and, right now, she's feeling some side effects from that. Procrit, in the process of increasing red blood cell production, makes your bones hurt. But her energy continues to build. And she, well, went to the park. And her appetite is good.

Yesterday, my aunt half-joked with me about when I'm going to write a book about all of this and I said, "When none of you would sue me." And she suggested (jokingly), "Well, you can write it when we're all dead." This family of mine has a really twisted sense of humor. And I love it.