Believe it or not, I've thought a lot about "relaunching" the blog over the past three to 12 months but thinking is clearly about as far as it got. So why now? Why on December 17, 2010? Well, I read another family blog this week that greatly inspired me. You see, a college friend of Jeff's met and married the love of his life while they were at Rice University. They had two beautiful boys and generally, life was good until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. That's when, together, they embarked on a long journey of hope. Hope for a cure. Hope that the cancer wouldn't spread. (It did.) Hope that some treatment would work. (It didn't.) After many hours of chemo and many days spent in and out of the hospital over the past several years while they maintained as much courage and positive attitude as they could, this week they learned that they have run out of options and as Jeff's friend puts it, they are now focused on hope of a different kind: hope that he can keep his soul mate as comfortable as possible until the end and that their family can cherish their remaining days together.
Jeff - and I through him - have been following this painful story through the magic of Facebook, but also through a beautiful blog that they have chosen to share with loved ones...and the world, really. It so eloquently chronicles their path through this difficult time, yet also shows the amazing courage of all four of them as in between updates on chemo and other treatments, you see pictures of smiling boys with their parents on holidays, birthdays, their first day of school, at a basketball game, on a camping trip...as if they were living the life of any "normal" family. And somehow, part of what was amazing about the blog was that they started it before she was ever sick - so in the beginning it's just like this one, a report on their day-to-day life until one day they had the rug pulled out from under them and life has never been the same. Over the past week, if you put aside the sheer heartache Jeff and I both feel over the situation they are facing, I have so appreciated being able to read their stories because it has been like a gift - in what has frankly not been the best of years for Jeff and I - of greater appreciation for all that we do have.
So, in the end that is what made me finally decide to stop thinking about it and start writing about it...again. I have told myself that to really keep this up, I need to focus on keeping things short and sweet. Ha - we'll see! But for now, I thought I'd leave you with a quote from a post the day Jeff's friend realized that things really weren't looking good for his wife and said this to his older 10-year-old son, because I think that it's really applicable to all of us:
"...time may be short and very precious. What's important is that we stay connected to the present - today we have each other, today we can give hugs and share smiles and love."
Until I write again.
