Today, I have a short story to share with you. This was an exchange between Conrad and I the other day. I have been thinking about it all week. There are many things that I could say about it, but I think the story will say enough.

A mother and her young son were walking home one warm afternoon. They passed an old man with twinkling blue eyes who playfully threatened to shower them with his garden hose. The boy looked up at his mother.

Boy: "That is a nice man, Mommy."

Mother: "Yes, Son. He is very nice. Did you notice his blue eyes?"

Boy: "Yes, Mommy."

Mother: "It makes me sad to think that I will never see your eyes when you are an old man."

Boy: "I will be sad when you die, Mommy. I will think of you every day."

At that moment the mother looked into the face of her young son and saw the eyes of an old man.

Mother: "I will think of you every day, too." (pause) "Let's go eat some dinner."

According to the American Cancer Society, 2012 will bring with it 1,638,910 new cases of cancer. My mom holds the title to one of those cases. Two good friends of mine are battling a new family cancer this year. Since you are reading this blog, your life has been affected by at least one cancer—my mom's cancer. It is likely that you know others who have battled this disease. It is also likely that many of us will receive the dreaded diagnosis ourselves at one point in our lifetimes.

Friday evening at 6:00 my mom and her God-sent friend Ruth will be walking the Survivor Lap at the Relay for Life. If you would like to sponsor them, you can call my mom. If you would like to attend the event, below is a link to the event information.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=39340

Mom and Charlie are sporting the same look these days.

Dad decided to get in on it, too.

This was not planned in any way.

I gave Mom a call tonight. Her and dad are still up north and will be heading home tomorrow. She said that she still has coughing spells, but they are easing up. Her feet still feel numb. On Monday she goes to see Dr. Ritche and she will discuss these symptoms with him. He would like to do an endoscopy when her esophagus has healed. But, it looks like that might be a while, yet. That is okay though. I want Mom to take all the time she needs to heal. I am looking forward to seeing her tomorrow or Friday. Not only do I miss her, but I am curious to see how her hair has grown. It doesn't take much to amuse me. That is what happens when you quit watching television.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and Mom and Dad are heading back up north for a week. This time it will only be my parents, up until the last day. Then Craig and his family will move into the cabin for the next few weeks. Of course, Mom and Dad would have loved to spend more time with them, but Mom has to be back on Friday for a social gathering. The next week she will be heading back up to Froedert to meet with her oncologist.

Today Mom told me that she has a new concern to share with her doctors. Her feet feel numb. She knows that can be a side effect of the treatments. But, it seems odd that this would be occurring now. Other than that Mom is feeling better slowly but surely. She still needs her rest and the coughing fits are still with her. Her esophagus is also still healing and therefore painful at times. But, everyday she shows a slight increased interest in food. Today she was inquring about Subway. I think a meatball sub is in the near future.

The best thing that happened this week is that Mom invited me to go to Door County with her on October 6th. While the trip will certainly be fun, the very best thing about it is that she made plans for three months from now. A month ago Mom wouldn't have made plans for a week in the future, let alone three months.

Every day I am thankful that I have another day with my Mom. When anything goes wrong, or I am just having a bad day, I think of the gift that we have been given. Nothing in this world compares.

I haven't posted in the past few days because I do not have a smart phone or lap top that would have given me Internet access over our mini-vacation weekend. I am sure I could have used my brother's, but being chained to a computer all week at work I always enjoy the break from technology.

After hearing (and sufficiently spreading) the good news, Mom, Dad, Conrad and I headed up north to meet Craig, Madeline, and Eliana. Although the weather was a bit dreary and our time limited, we had a wonderful weekend together. I can't tell you how many times I just looked at my mom and thought, "She is here. She is at the cabin. How lucky we are!"

We did much of the usual stuff. Paddle-boating. Kayaking. Hiking. Swimming. Creature catching. Mom took things pretty easy, as she should have. She continues to have the horrible coughing fits. But, they do seem to be getting farther apart. And, she was able to eat more solid food. In fact, Saturday night she had her first hamburger in probably two months!

The best parts about the weekend were the little things.

Mom forgot her belt at home. When she got dressed Friday morning her pants dropped to her knees. So, Dad made her a belt out of a piece of rope. Mom and I both laughed at her new style with her roped pants and her stubbly head. But, she couldn't have looked more beautiful to me.

Now five-years-old, Eliana decided that she wanted to sleep in the loft with me and Conrad. Craig and Madeline were hesitant because they thought she might get scared in the middle of the night. But, Conrad reassured everyone that he would take care of her. I awoke that night to hear Eliana "crying". I shot up like a flash and asked her what was wrong. She laughed at me and said, "Silly, Kerry. I'm not crying. I'm laughing!" And she proceeded to tell me about her funny dream the involved her beagle Buster walking on the ceiling.

Determined as always, Craig and Dad set up the new trampoline in the rain. After the guys finally got it assembled, we pulled out lawn chairs and sat around watching the kids bounce. Now that is entertainment!

Madeline has been doing a great job with her new Weight Watcher's program. She really doesn't need it because she looks great. Nevertheless, she seems to be enjoying counting food points and awarding herself points for exercise. It was just one more quirky thing to add the mix of our family weekend.

Today, Alicia met Dad for breakfast. Dad told Alicia that I drove on the way home going 80 miles an hour the whole way and cussing at anyone that got in my way. I called him up to discuss his unique perspective on the situation. He said, "Hey, I'm not complaining. You got us home quickly!"

Mom just received a call from the doctor. 
NO SIGN OF CANCER!!!!