If only you could go on vacation and return to find that life had miraculously sorted itself out in your absence.
If only a week of sunshine could keep darkness at bay for at least as long.
If only the purest and most beautiful things in life truly had the power to keep sickness and pain and ugliness from hurting the people we love the most.
I need to take a few days off to attend to my responsibilities and to love my family - hope to be back in better form soon.
Especially this year Rob and I were happy, thrilled really, to continue what has been a New Year's Eve tradition since Graham's birth in 2005.
His mother, who was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and his father joined us for a lovely dinner. Rob and I put Graham to bed and slipped out to a neighborhood pub for an hour, returning before midnight, just in time to countdown 2009 and enjoy a celebratory glass of champagne with his parents.
The doctors have found cancer in the lymph nodes around my mother-in-law's stomach: this is apparently fairly common among long-time celiac sufferers. She will undergo further testing this week to determine if the cancer has spread to her chest or bone marrow and to determine what, if any, course of treatment will be most effective.
I do not know what 2009 will bring for my family. I do know we had a wonderful evening last night and that's a great start.
Thank you all for your continued support and good wishes.
Because my mother in law remains in the hospital, though much improved, thanks, in no small part I believe, to all your heartfelt good wishes and prayers...
Because I just learned that my dear cousin's 34-year-old sister-in-law unexpectedly died in her sleep at her parents' home on Christmas morning...
Because Christmas, for all the joy it brings (and it DOES bring joy), is hard and tiring work...
Because of all the things that prevent us from enjoying Christmas like we did when we were children, isn't it true that we could ALL use just a little bit more cute in our lives?
Of course it is.
You're welcome.
Now go pour yourself a big ole rum and egg nog as a thank you to YOU for once again making holiday magic happen for the ones you love. I'll be back soon with a real post - promise!
