For Crying Out Loud

It all started on April 1 when Daddy and I went down to Oxford for Kristen's senior recital. The weather was perfect, a bit warmer and much sunnier than Cleveland. The flowers and trees were all starting to bloom and it was lovely. Kristen's concert was wonderful and I hope to have the CD soon. (hint, hint) Afterwards we went out the to state park where Mendon had reserved us a cabin and had a cookout with Kristen's family. We had a very nice time because they are very nice people. The next moring we all came together for brunch before going our separate ways. And Mendon's cousin, Jamie, joined us too. She would have come to the concert the day before, but she was in Canada (I think) competing in her last synconized skating event before graduating. And Miami came in second in the world! That's pretty impressive. And I learned a new word -- "podiumed", as in 'This is the first time that the US podiumed.'

The next week was taken up with Liam's birth. On Tuesday, Mara went for an ultra sound and then the next night gave birth, so I spent Wednesday witnessing Liam's entrance. Thursday, of course, we visited the new family. On Friday, I went to devotions at Cindy's, only to return home and be greeted at the door by Mara with the news that Grampa's nursing home had called and that we needed to go right away.

Unfortunately, he passed away before any of us got there. That was (not so) Good Friday. We spent Easter with Gramma; she made us a lovely brunch and seemed happy to have her family around her. The following Friday we had Grampa's funeral. All my children were able to make it in, which was nice. And much of the Argentine branch of the family made it too. They had been planning a visit anyway, so it worked out well. It was the most of the family all together at one time in a long time and probably for a long time to come. Not everyone was there, but I'm not sure that will ever happen.

The following Friday, we had the interment at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetary. It was a bit of a story in itself, but best told in person. Suffice it to say that humor can be found all sorts of places.

In the meantime, Liam is still the center of the Dornbrook universe. You see how peaceful he looks? Yeah. It's just a front. Now don't get me wrong. He is a lovely child and is quite peaceful during the day. But as Mara noted, 'Wait until 11. That's when the night baby comes out.' Liam seems to get gas at night and it hurts him. Here is another photo of Liam doing what he does best (with his Granny Nannie). During the day, I have the magic touch, but at night all bets are off.

In other arenas, I went to my oncologist. I think you all know that I was with Hospice, but since I am in such good health, it started to seem a bit ridiculous to all of us. I suppose I didn't need to go back to my oncologist, but I guess I felt more secure knowing someone was keeping track of things. I expected him to have me have another CT scan since the original plan had been to have one every 3 months for a year. Nope, no scan scheduled. And I have another appointment in July, still with no scan scheduled. I did ask the question that if I made it to the magic 4 year mark without another recurrance would we just ignore the one last October? He said, pretty much. It feels like he has moved me into the win column. I find that pretty amazing, but I think the reasoning is that pancreatic cancer kills pretty quickly, and if I ain't dead yet (or even sick), I probably won't be. It is pretty amazing to be back in the land of the living.

Daddy bought me two more blueberry plants, so we will now have 4. Maybe I will live long enough to get enough berries for a pie!