Dad’s Day

This weekend was Father’s Day, so I wanted to share a picture of me and my dad circa the early 90’s. This guy is amazing. He raised three kids, ages 3, 12, and 15 when my mom died of breast cancer, and no one could have done it better or with more love. I am thankful for him every day (and also thankful for the help he’s had along the way from neighbors, friends, and the indefatigable Nancy).

Awwwwwwwwwwwww!

I promised  to be more aware of my “Our Town Moments”, so here’s one from the weekend. On Saturday night, I was at my parents’ house in Pennsylvania. We’ve all been going through a lot lately, not just stemming from my cancer last year but other big changes in people’s lives that affect all of us because we love and support one another. Still, Saturday night we had fun and normalcy, just me, my dad, Nancy, my brother, and my boyfriend. While the sun was still out we played ladder golf in the backyard and had a lovely dinner outside on the porch. When it was dark we spent a couple hours in the hot tub, tracing the course of satellites above our heads (something my dad taught us to do years ago). I was thankful for family, laughter, nature, fireflies, and the universe, for being beautiful and full of twinkling surprises.

Word to my parents

Throughout chemo I’ve had a routine. Infusions were every other Thursday. My parents would come down to DC from Philly the night before each infusion, accompany me to my infusion and spend the day with me, then have dinner with my boyfriend and me in DC before piling us all in the car and heading back to my parents’ house. I’d stay there over the weekend until Monday or Tuesday – whenever I  felt well enough to head back to DC and return to my life.

Today, the night before I return to DC after my last infusion, I find myself looking back on the experience fondly… not the chemo, of course, but the time I spent with my parents in my childhood home. This summer sucked in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed the opportunity to be closer to my parents physically and emotionally.

I can’t say this without sounding cliche and cheesy, but it needs to be said because I believe it’s true: I have the best parents in the whole, wide world.

All summer they’ve been nothing short of amazing. They’ve loved me unconditionally, never made me raise a finger, cooked for me, cleaned up after me, entertained me, cared for me like only a nurse and a doctor can, taken me shopping, calmed my nerves, listened to and allayed my fears, let me cry, and, even when things seemed especially difficult, approached everything with a positive and supportive attitude. While I’m sure I would have been able to do this on my own, it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy (or fun – don’t forget the endless games of Hit or Miss… and metallurgy club).

So, while a blog entry is totally inefficient at expressing my true gratitude, I’m doing it anyway: thank you mom and dad for the innumerable ways you have made my life easier and better this year and always.