An Inspiration

Recently I met an older couple, L & F, at a family gathering. It was a larger meeting, but I noticed almost immediately that F, who I had never met before, needed extra help. He was offered a chair while the rest of us stood. Given that we are the same gathering, and the hosts were just plain rude and didn't make any introductions, I stepped right up and welcomed them.

To be honest, on first blush, they seemed nice but didn't capture my interest. Well into their 70's, I didn't see a connection. Boy was I wrong. I overheard the word 'chemo' and 'treatment', and our connection was sealed.

F is in treatment for cancer. He is being treated with a series of 12 chemo treatments. The cancer is advanced, and it had taken every bit of his energy to get halfway across the country to this event. We talked about treatment, and hair, and energy levels. Over the next three days, they adopted my family into theirs.

And now, I get emails regularly. I am F's inspiration!

Damn I hate this disease.

Six Weeks, WOW!

It has been about six weeks since I have posted. During that time, so much has happened and so little has happened. Weeks are sliding into one another, and slowly I am getting farther and farther away from the awful days of treatment.

Boston is perfect right now. The weather is cool and fresh. To be honest, it feels like early Fall, not late summer. The tomatoes in the garden are ripening. Each day we harvest two tomatoes, and enjoy them in sandwiches or as a special salad. The basil, thyme and rosemary are thriving too. The plants are huge. Time to have another feast with friends so we can pare them back before bringing the thyme and rosemary in for the winter.

On August 7th, Leslie and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. That night Lauren threw a party for her pool buddies, so Leslie and I headed out. We ate at the Elephant Walk for the first time. This restaurant has been on our 'wanna go' list for a long time, but something gets in the way pretty regularly. Well, mostly it is a money thing. The Elephant Walk is not cheap, but it was a wonderful dinner. After dinner, we took a short walk to work off some of those delicious calories.

Lauren continues to work as many hours as possible at the pool. She is determined to have enough cash for the school year. She leaves for school on the 25th, which is just around the corner.

I have played a lot this summer. A choral festival for four weeks, and then weddings for the rest of the season. Not much on the calendar after September first, but I suspect that will change soon enough.

I have one large database project that I am working on. 2/3 of the way through now, but the last 1/3 will be the clincher. I need to buy a server to test this beast on, and that is causing me some consternation. I mean, we are broke, and here I am thinking about spending real money. Intellectually, I know that I have to invest in my business if I want to keep in the game, but emotionally I know that September is coming and with it the quarterly bills: health insurance and the IRS.

I have one large prospective client that I am in the 'getting to know you' stage. We have signed NDA agreements, but they want/need a lot of work. In this business, nothing is for sure until the paychecks start up. Keep fingers crossed for me!

I am still trying to figure out how I 'feel' about me right now. Some other BC women think I have some post-trauma syndrome, others think I am simply living the side effects of aromasin deeply. I don't really know, but for right now, there is no evidence of disease. I can deal with the mental debris later.