Summer's End

My deepest apologies for keeping everyone waiting in the wings for an update. I won't drone on and on about why I haven't been on here but to put it simply: life. Heading back to college has caused life to become rather hectic...

I do have a lot to say, of course, in relevance to the last few weeks of being home for summer with mom. To be specific the last two weeks of summer vaca brought about band camp, which I helped work. You might be wondering why this has anything to do with mom. Well, because I was off to working camp with my dad and the boys were busy working their fast food jobs, mom was left to own devices during the day. Here is where I must back track in order to make the punch line of this story effective... Bob from Bradford (dad's college roommate and champion corn-holer, I've mentioned him before)was up at our house for the duration of band camp due to the fact that Bob is the master of the drums. Bob drives a Ford pick up truck and because of all the cars already in our driveway, dad had Bob park in my Uncle's drive way (which is conveniently across the street). In an effort to preserve gas, dad and Bob drove to camp together in the mornings, which left Bob's truck in the drive way across the street. Well, I come home one day to find mom on the phone with my aunt (the one who lives across the street, who also happens to be on vacation with my Uncle) informing her that someone MAY be breaking into their house because there is a large pick up truck in the drive way... I immediately inform her to hold the horn, that is NOT an intruders truck, but rather Bob from Bradford's vehicle. We will chalk this up to chemo-brain. Gotta love her for that, keeping watch on the neighborhood!

Since my last entry I took mom down to the 'Burgh for her double chemo treatment. This was an experience in and of itself. We got up at 4:15AM to truck down the highway for her 8AM appointment. I feel bad that I even groaned about having to drive at such an ungodly hour when mom had to not only ride in the car before the crack of dawn, but then also get chemo treatment at the end of the long drive. While the "girl's trip" was due to unfortunate circumstances (Cancer), we had a wonderful time. I got to meet Debbie & Debbie, mom's chemo-nurses who are absolutely stellar. Mom and I also had the chance to meet other chemo patients, which was almost refreshing to hear their stories because it reminded not only me, but certainly mom too, that she is not alone in her fight with Cancer. These women were of all different walks of life, sizes, races and ages yet they all had one thing in common. My mom had the most invasive and elaborate chemo plan out of all of them and I must say, she was certainly the most beautiful one there. She looked too cute in her pink sweat suit!

After the first treatment was over we headed out of the hospital and on to the Bed & Breakfast where we stayed the night. However, before turning in for the night we did go to dinner at Chipolte and grab some ice cream after! Actually on our way to dinner we were standing at a busy crosswalk in down town Pittsburgh where we smelled potentially the most putrid smell EVER. Mom and I quickly realized that this scent was coming from this guy who was obviously financially unfortunate. Over dinner we were talking about this smelly man and it made us wonder, what if that man was God? Its like that song, "What if God was one of us?" I guess where I am going with this is, while we have been through a very difficult stretch of time, you know what, other people are far less fortunate. And my family and I are so blessed because we have each other as well as a strong faith in God. So who knows, God may have been that stinky guy in the cross walk, or he may not have been but the guy crossed paths with mom and I for a reason and gave us some perspective. When you have family and faith, you have everything you need.

Later that night mom and I snacked on some treats in our room while watching The Middle a new series on ABC, which I totally recommend you watch, by the way. We had a lot of fun laying in bed giggling and just getting the opportunity to enjoy each others company.

The next morning we went back to the hospital for some more chemo. I gotta say, my mom is so incredibly strong and I wish I had the words to describe how much I admire her. Although, I am glad that as far as I know, I did not inherit her snoring, I hope I got some of her strength. After her second treatment of the double-whammy sequence, we zipped home.

A few days after that, I was off to school and lets just say that saying bye to my family does not get an easier each year! I am really going to miss seeing mom and dad and even Zach and Andrew (and obviously Sidney and Lilly)everyday, but it won't be long before Christmas break is right around the corner and of course, home is only a two hour drive away for weekend visits!

While this summer was not the easiest, it was easily the summer I grew up the most.

Mom only has three more treatments left and she is DONE!!! September 15th, mark it on your calendars!!! See ya, Cancer!!!