“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”-Albert Camus
Thank you all so much for the comments! Your words have had more of an impact than you know. Mom has really enjoyed logging on to check what everyone has to say. Can you believe that she has received closed to 1,000 page views already?! If she didn't know before, she certainly knows now how far-reaching her support base is.
We are starting to get some pictures in. If anyone wants to send pictures, please send them to beatthisthing@gmail.com. I'm posting here a picture that really touched Mom, and I will add it to the photo gallery when that is up and running.
This little guy is Dylan, and his message: "Stay strong Aunty Laurie" meant the world to Mom. Thank you, Brandi, for sending this!
Radiation is now half over, and as Mom says, "I'm not glowing in the dark yet." She may not be glowing, but she is feeling far more fatigued now than she was last week. She has now learned that if she has any errands to run, she has to run them before her appointments, as sleep is the order of the day as soon as she is done! Mom always has a long to-do list, so it is a bit of a shock for her to realize she doesn't have the energy to zip around and get everything done.
She is very much looking forward to Christmas and having the chance to see family and friends. Mom has always done Christmas better than anyone I know, and we are all used to her being everywhere and entertaining everyone at this time of the year. And this year, she doesn't plan on changing that very much. However, she is handing over the Christmas dinner reins to me and Bri. Yep, you read that correctly. Bri and I will be cooking the Christmas turkey - under strict supervision, of course. I have never really had a lesson in cooking the turkey because I always figured, "Why mess with perfection?" But, this year, we're going to try it. I am really looking forward to the three of us girls in the kitchen figuring it all out together. I just hope Bri and I can do Mom proud and serve up an edible turkey!
We wanted to ask that if anybody has any funny stories, memorable stories or inspirational stories about Mom that they would like to share, please forward them to beatthisthing@gmail.com, and I will add a special "story" post. As a wise friend told me, "At times like this, smiles can go a long way."
