Dear Kids,
Sharon’s here! And all her kids, too. Charlie and Matthew are out at the farm, and Sharon and Lucy and Conrad are at Nora’s house. They’ll be here at our house tonight, for our usual Sunday get-together, and they need to pick up the mini van the Thackers left here for them. Oh, yeah, Seth isn’t here yet. He’s coming later–in a couple of weeks, I think.
Speaking of Sunday get-togethers, Donna convinced me to cancel super Sunday for this month, since it’s just four days before our family reunion starts. And of course Donna’s right. So she and Bevan will be in charge of August’s super Sunday, on August 22. And the family reunion is getting close–just 2 1/2 weeks away. I’m sure Al will be getting the information out pretty soon. Bear Lake, here we come!
I saw my oncologist, Dr. Lewis, on Thursday, and he went over all my recent tests with me, and we looked at my last scan. Unlike I thought, radiation isn’t an option, since the biggest tumor is really close to my heart, and they don’t want to accidentally radiate that vital organ! (Radiation isn’t an exact science. It doesn’t always end up exactly where it’s supposed to.) Anyway, he made a decision that surprised me. I’m going to have chemo again. Even though my tumors are growing slowly, it will probably shrink them, and I should be able to breathe better. Of course I agreed. Whatever! I’m elated that I might feel better pretty soon. The chemo starts Tuesday, and I’ll have infusions every other week for four rounds. That means I’ll have it just before the family reunion, and my worst day is always Friday, but we should be able to drive up Saturday and spend most of the day with you guys. Tom will bring Dad’s truck the first day, Thursday afternoon, with the firewood, mattresses, paper products, etc., so all that will be there for you. I had already considered coming just one day anyway, because I’ve felt so wretched, so this will be no different for Dad and me.
Paul has a new job! (Again. Go, Paul.) He’s going to work for a company that made him an offer once before, when he took the job he’s just now quitting. Hopefully he’ll be doing real engineering now, not report writing. Paul was really proactive, called them up and said he was looking again, and could he come work in their office for just one day and see how they liked him, and how he liked them. Or something like that. I’m glad he’s so on-the-ball. We’re really happy for him.
Dad has been putting together the new swingset at the cabin. We go over there three or four mornings a week, before it gets hot, and he works on it for a couple of hours. He said it’s like a giant erector set. And the direction booklet really is the size of a telephone directory. You have to do each step in exactly the right order, so we can’t have a big assembly party and work together and get it all done in one day. Like demolishing the old one. Now that was a fun project.
What a family! I love you all. Mom
