(I need an audio clip of "Futurama" Professor Farnsworth to say that for me.)
Had a diagnostic mammogram this morning... it was NEGATIVE. I followed that with a six-month check in with my surgeon, and he says everything looks great. I don't need to see him again until August. I see the oncologist and radiologist in the next few weeks for similar,periodic check ins, and anticipate nothing but more good reports.
And the good news continues.... Dave was diagnosed a diabetic three weeks ago. What a shock and a blow and a heart breaker for him. But in this short span of time, though, his blood sugar down from 259 (awful) to 138 (nearing normal), he's changed his eating habits (had made friends with salads and oatmeal), and is feeling a whole lot better than he had been (he'd been complaining of fatigue, poor sleep, constant thirst, among other things—all symptoms we didn't think to tie to diabetes).
So he's on his way to getting this under control. It's along road, we know. It's not going to disappear in a matter of weeks, we know. While he's missing things like Chinese food and ice cream, he knows those things will come back, in moderation, some day soon.
So, it's been good news all around today. OK, we had snow and sleet and that sucks big time, but the rest of the day has been sunny and bright.
My dad died 14 years ago today and, as chance would have it, at just about this time of day.
I've missed him terribly through the years. He missed a lot of wonderful moments in our lives (the adventures, the accomplishments, watching his granddaughter grow into a beautiful young woman) and missed some moments that I'm frankly glad to know he wasn't around to witness (my breast cancer is the first thing that comes to mind).
Whatever. Good moments or bad, we can't have him back.
One of the hardest things about losing him was that point in time when it became normal that he was no longer here. That moment was a shock and it hurt almost as much as losing him.
So, I'm thinking about him today, as I do most days. I still miss him and I'd have liked nothing more today than to have laughed with him over something. I'll just go ahead an laugh and pretend he's laughing with me.
Here's a photo of me and my dad, taken in about 1990 at the farm in Nobleboro, ME. It's one of my very favorites because of the look on his face. That look told me that he loved me and it was enough for me just to see it.
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Finally got some Christmas Day photos from my brother in law:
My Mother with Her Children
Me and Dave and PJ (I love my t-shirt, a gift last year from my brother at my height of baldness... "Life is Crap" with the character tangled in the holiday lights...!)
PJ and her Uncle Ted and Aunt Kelly
Me with my Sibs
