June, September, and Everything in Between
I guess it’s been a hot minute since I posted anything new on the blog. The month of May was full of trying to keep my head on straight, with senior awards night, scholarship luncheons, piano recitals, figure skating competitions, figure skating expos, sports banquets, and high school graduation. (Did I mention I got to hand my kid their diploma? Perks of being a school board director! Maybe the only perk.)
I don’t think I took a full breath until the day we left to drive cross-country earlier this summer. And even then, I was waiting to discover what I had somehow missed along the way. (Nothing. I missed nothing. I’m just a typical, neurotic, overworked mom whose brain was fried.)
Our trip was the most amazing vacation full of highs and lows and all the craziest situations we never could have imagined. But we did what we set out to do. And *I* did what I set out to do, which was to introduce my kids to the breathtaking awe of nature, and what happens when you step outside your comfort zone.
Part 2 of the summer was spent fostering a mama cat and kittens from ACCT Philadelphia. The shelter is an hour and a half drive with traffic. (And there is always traffic.) Certainly, there are closer shelters I could have turned to, but ACCT put out a desperate plea on social media and I got sucked in. So I drove to Philadelphia to pick up some cats and set them up in my home for six weeks until everyone was old enough to get sterilized, get their vaccines, and get adopted. When I arrived back home, my neighbor happened to be outside.
“What’s in the boxes?” he asks.
“Cats.”
Eyeing my two boxes, he says, “Are there two?”
“No, it’s a mama and…” I realize I don’t know how many kittens are in the litter, so I put the boxes down on the sidewalk and start counting the kennel cards that mark each kitten, sweat gathering on my forehead as I realize exactly how much poo I’m about to deal with.
“Eight,” I squeak. “A mama and seven kittens.”
And, reader, let me tell you how much poo I dealt with over the coming weeks. So. Much. Poo. (And worms, and meds, and baths, but let’s not go there. I still have a little bit of PTSD.)
But there’s no way you can tell me it wasn’t worth it. In six weeks, every cat had a home thanks to the power of social media and human networking. Mama and all seven of her kittens are settled in their new homes. And not a moment too soon…
Because.
The day after they were all adopted, we drove our oldest child 750 miles to college in Savannah, Georgia. And my heart must be made of stone because I didn’t let loose a single tear. I’m so excited for this kid and all that they’re about to embark on that I couldn’t even think of crying. But everyone keeps asking me how hard I sobbed, and so I know I must actually be defective in some way… But if I’m defective in that my tears turn into excitement for this new adventure, then so be it. I suppose it’s the best kind of defective to be.
And while the summer was filled with so many high points, we’ve come to realize not everything is rainbows and butterflies. Life, as always, has given us a twist we weren’t anticipating. Nate’s new oral chemo meds don’t seem to be doing much to deter his cancerous tumors from growing.
We’ll find out more this Friday about what the new course of action will be. Stay on course as he’s only been on the new meds for 3 months? Try something new that may come with different side effects (not that the side effects from this one were all that great…)? Go with another embolization that was hard on him the last time, but seemed to work to slow the tumor growth? We won’t know.
The oncologist says there’s lots of options. But all of those options include some measure of Nate’s time, pain, discomfort, fear, anxiety, etc. All of them. Every last one. The company he works for has been supportive, and for that I am exceptionally grateful. They’ve allowed him whatever he needs to take on this new, unexpected turn, and that’s a small blessing many in his situation don’t often get in the United States.
Of course, the summer was also filled with plenty of news about writing — reviews, releases, and new works, but that’s a post for another day. Today? Today I’m going to spend some time looking at photos from this crazy, incredible whirlwind of a summer. Today, I’m going to remember the good.
