Launching a Couple!

We had a big weekend five days ago. Joel and Jo flew in from San Fran and Jo's sister, Shiao, flew in from NYC and Brooke brought Harrison and Parker in from St. Louis. That's the starter.

We provided our condo to my college roomies, the TFWCers, to host a shower for Jo on Saturday afternoon with 12 attending, then we regrouped and provided our condo for my sis-in-law Barb and Nancy and my good friend Marilyn to host a Meek/Lukens family and friends shower on Sunday with 30 attending.

The TFWC shower was Jo's first "exposure" to my crazy college girlfriends including an induction ceremony for both. As you can see, it was loads of fun and we would all love to hear how Jo and Shiao describe that whole experience to their family and friends (ha!)

Then, Jo (once again) and Shiao (for the first time) got to share great fun and conversation with our family and friends.

The entire weekend, despite all the activity, I kept thinking about my bridal showers and all that has since happened to Ted and me in the 36 years. Joel and Jo have a lot ahead of them...joys, tears, craziness, low times and great times. So it was so good to help launch this wonderful couple!

Being reminded of my blessings

As soon as we got back from Cabo and I made it back into work the next day, I was reminded of my blessings. I was stopped by a faculty colleague who has just completed her chemo. She stopped me to ask what to expect from her radiation treatments, starting this week actually.

We stood there for a few minutes, with me asking her questions and then relaying as many tips as I could to help her prepare for radiation and all that comes with it.

She especially appreciated me saying that she needs to just prepare herself for the fact that when treatment is officially 'over', it's not at all over. And how she will still be feeling the effects for 12-18 months post treatment. The look on her face was like mine now nearly a year ago...I heard that, but I didn't really believe it. I was so anxious to get my life back to normal, that I was in a kind of denial about the after-treatment stuff. So it hit me hard when I didn't bounce right back to normal following treatment.

It's good that I can help this colleague and also another colleague, both 6-9 months behind me with their cancer journeys. Hopefully they'll be helped by my experience and will be more realistic about how long it takes to recover.