"You Picked A Fine Time ... "

Max has grown a lot since I last saw him! He's still a total pup, though. Darrel came by with Max last night for a visit. Darrel hasn't grown ... even though it seems like I haven't seen him for a long time either.

I spoke with Meghan, Dawson and Jack last night, too! On the phone. Dawson immediately volunteered that he had grown a lot! But he'd lost 2 pounds last week when he was sick. I had a nice long "girl chat" with Meghan where we discussed shopping, books, vampires, clothes, and the play she was in among other things.

Today Lynn and I drove to Kyle together to see Cindy and her family. Cindy's Mom, "Lucky" Lucille died quite unexpectedly last week and it was important to me that I be there today. I have so many happy memories of time spent at Cindy's place in high school and I've been so fond of Ponto and Lucille. They were so good to me. It seems to me they were always laughing about something. I say "Lucky" Lucille because she was so remarkably lucky. I think Lucille won more than the average number of draws and I'm quite sure she won much more than she ever lost at a casino. Cindy inherited some of her luck, too. Or maybe they're just really smart. That could be. Cindy's and Bev's kids spoke so touchingly of their grandma and presented such a nice slide show full of memories.

Lynn and I stopped at Mom's when we got to Kyle and then went to the memorial with Mom and Darrel. There were so many people there! They had to bring in extra seats. Jam packed! Aside from family, I really hadn't seen hardly anyone from home since before I had this little cancer set back. I was a little nervous about seeing so many people and under such circumstances when I'm likely to be extra emotional. I can still be a veritable water-fountain of tears when I see people I haven't seen for a long time and throw in my sadness for Ponto and Cindy and Bev and their families, well ... I was feeling a little iffy. But the cool thing about going back to the place that you still consider "home" and where you spent your formative years, the minute you walk back into the community, you feel the warm embrace of that whole community and the care they extend even when you haven't seen many of them for years and years. It reminds me yet again how lucky I am to have grown up in rural Saskatchewan. It's always home. It always will be. I was only nervous for a brief moment when I cried a little more than I would have liked, but after that I was fine. And it's okay to shed a few tears among friends. Where safer to feel a little vulnerable? And really, I felt as strong and as like myself as I've felt for a long time. While I'm still a little self conscious about the visible signs of having had cancer ... such as my freakin' hair ... I'm pretty much over it. As I said to Stan and Scott, I have a lot less hair than when I last saw them ... but then so do they! This past couple of months, I feel life slowly seeping back into my veins and some physical confidence returning as my joints improve, my shoulder thaws, and my weight is starting to drop, even though I still feel cognitively compromised. I was so glad to be there today to see Cindy and her family and to see a whole lot of people from my home ... school friends and their parents, neighbours, former teachers ... so many good people who make me feel welcome, secure, and cared for just the same as when I was a kid. I'm so blessed.

The road trip was nice with Lynn. We had about 5 hours to catch up, do a little speculating and planning ... always fun to get our creative juices flowing. I can't wait until we spring our ideas on Darrel and Kevin.

And now I'm exhausted. It's been a full and emotionally draining day.