Unearthing a life.....

I believe this photo was taken about 1972. Decades before I would even dream of coming down with cancer ... before Kelly would even dream of ever being a Vice-Superintendent of schools ... before Erin would even dream of becoming a community college Registrar.

That's the odd thing about the Dreamtime (the Aussie aboriginal concept?) ... very little can be anticipated. You go where the gods take you. Or you go on walkabout.

My life has been an amazing walkabout. It has not been the fulfillment of my dreams because I would never have chanced to dream the routes I have ended up traveling. I would never have dreamed up the beloved circle of friends that now surround me. I would never have dreamed up the great love that I am receiving from my daughters. I would never have dreamed a model for the marvelous wife who has nurtured and partnered me down all the strange trails we've come upon these past forty years.

My family of origin is not very tight, but the news of my diagnosis has spread to all my far-flung siblings and they have raised their heads and looked westward to Puget Sound. Do they hear mortality calling? I am the oldest child and it wouldn't surprise me if they saw me as a barrier between themselves and death. I can assure you that I keep a sharp eye on Uncles Don and Archie. They are the lone survivors of the previous generation and I have been using them as danger markers.

Don is eighty-seven and Arch is ninety-two and I would be damned disappointed to be the one to throw the proper progression of funerals out of order. So 'cronking', or otherwise 'buying the farm' is not a treatment option. I have a responsibility to see Allie graduate from high school ... to see Jessica either ride in competition, or play jazz clarinet ... etc, etc, etc.

I now have a Thursday 10:00 am appointment with Dr. Adams to get an explanation of the biopsy / pathology reports. The proposed treatment plan will maybe not be revealed till next Monday. At which point the Battle will Commence!

Bookworm and I were looking forward to having Kelly with us last weekend (back row right in above photo), but here plane broke down on the runway and she had to reshedule for this coming weekend. It will be a pleasure and a relief to have her near me for a few days.