6:00 a.m. - I started walking in a small group of women lately, really early mornings. I love it. I see the sunrise everyday. (More writings to come on this event.) We finished up at about 7:30 and I came home. Fed the neighbors turtle for them because they are out of town. Went home to get ready for the day.
8:15 a.m. - Left the house to go to the school. No school doesn't start until August 7th. But, teachers are never really on vacation. I went to meet the new 6th grade Language Arts teacher and share some ideas with her.
10:00 a.m. - Left the school to go to a doctors appointment. I am now at the lovely age of mammograms. Officially, I should have started getting them last year. I have heard how painful they are, therefore I unintentionally put it off. Summer is quickly closing and I knew now was the time. Teacher rarely take time off for health.
10:30 a.m. - The doctor enters the room, feels me up, says he feels nothing. I'm thinking, "Gee thanks." haha Tells me he wants to write the papers up for my first mammogram. "Get dressed, I will be back." He says. So, I get dressed and sit and wait. Synonymous for doctors offices I know. As I sit and wait, I log in to FaceBook. What else do you do in the world of 2014, am I right?
I am scrolling down and come to a very upsetting post about one of my dearest friends in the world. Announcing she has cancer. My intake of breath was audible. My tears screaming to come out. I start kicking myself because I receive emails with her post to her family blog and I am SURE I received her post about it but breezed past it because we were on vacation.
11:00 a.m. - I am leaving the office and calling her the second I hit the front door. I am calling every number I have, the whole time kicking myself for not keeping in better contact. I didn't get her on the phone but I left messages at each. No tears yet. My mind is just reeling.
11:15 a.m. - get home and tell my husband Jeff. At this point I am pissed. She just had a baby. Like just barely. She is younger than me. She has four children. I am pissed. I get my laptop out thinking I need some therapy or some mind numbing nothingness.
12:00 p.m. - Jeff makes sandwiches and tells me I should call her husband. I state how angry I am. Listing off all the reasons it's not fair. She is young. She has four kids. She just had a baby. He says, "Cancer doesn't care." Now, the tears are flowing. I need to talk to her. I call her husband. Then, I text him when he doesn't answer.
12:59 p.m. - He calls. It's aggressive. It's breast cancer. She has to go through 18 weeks of chemo. It's treatable. Once the cancer shrinks they will take it out and hopefully that is the end of it. It has not spread to any other part of her body. If there is such a thing as good news with cancer, I think I have just heard it. She texts me and says she promises to call later.
By this point I am bawling like a baby. It's probably best that she doesn't call. It feels like a personal attack. Jeff and I have family who have been fighting cancer. They are closest to Jeff and while it has and does affect me, (especially losing his father), for some reason this just cuts me so deep. In an effort to feel better I start remembering. I start looking through photos of she and I on FaceBook. Then, I realize I have so many more in my albums. So, I go looking through those and start collecting them.
It's then that it hits me and I realize. I don't have a lot of friends. Not close friends. I am an introvert. I am a homebody. I am comfortable in my happy place. It is sincerely painful for me to make new friends. But, the friends that do come into my life, like Kim, and take the time to know me, and in return I them, there is a bond for me that is unbreakable. They are my family. I have always been okay with my small circle of very close friends. The kind you can call up and it seems like you have never been apart. They are the best kind. Kim is one of those people who broke through my exterior, slowly, simply and at our own pace. I trust her with my inner most anything. We understand each other. She is an introvert. She is a kindred spirit. And I love her dearly.
After talking to her on the phone around 3 p.m. I am feeling as well as I can about this turn of events in the plan I have for all my friends. (To live for ever and always be.) She is battling. She is brave. Most days. She is fighting for her family. I am proud of her and the example of not giving up that she is. I am thankful for the gift of our friendship. I am thankful for Ryan, her husband, who loves her like no one else on the planet. She tells him he doesn't have to come to appointments and he shows up to them before she gets there. He is self- employed. He works hard and plays harder. He loves Kim without an Amen. I am thankful beyond words for the love he shows her.
If you are interested in following her fight, you can read about her on her blog. Fighting for my family. The link is under the life inspirations list of blogs on the left. If you would like to donate to her family in her fight please follow this link Youcare-Kim'sfightforherfamily. This is medical fundraiser and will help support them over the next year in all her treatments. I love you Kim. I am here for you. Any day or night. Praying. Always Praying. Always thinking of you.
Now, I like happy endings so to end on a pleasant note...she will hate this but, I simply must share the very few photos I have of the lovely Kim. She is usually behind the camera so truly they are not many.
 |
| Usually the only way Kim would let you photograph her. :) |
In the beginning of our PLAY DAYS I had to sneak photos of her. I was so lonely without the kids. We started hanging out way before I met Jeff. She would take me out in nature and do her best to cheer me up.
 |
| Kim and Daisy. |
 |
| Nick Loving on Kim. |
 |
| The kids and I with Kim and Abby at the weeping rock at Zions Canyon. |
 |
| Playing at a park. We love parks. |
 |
| Eating cheetos in the park with her two oldest children after playing in the water at a park. |
Loves,
Now you really should go - hug, call or spend time with someone you love! Life is precious. Moments and Memories last forever. Go make some.
Leave a reaction. How did you feel about this post?
No comments:
Post a Comment