The Gift

And just like that...the house is empty. Just the two of us rattling around. But it was wonderful and now we have the memories to take us back whenever we choose to revisit the holiday.

I have to tell you this story. I don't believe I have ever, in my entire life, received a gift that made me cry...until this year. If you are a regular reader, you may remember that last summer I had a volatile reaction to a bug bite and ended up in the emergency room having my wedding rings cut off. They were MANGLED, totally, and when I brought them home I tossed them in a bowl and basically forgot about them. I had trouble believing that they could ever be repaired. But, Ken took them to a jeweler who put them back together and you honestly cannot tell that they were ever cut. He wrapped them up and gave them to me for Christmas. I literally cried when I opened it. I can't believe I have them back. I wore those rings for 40 years and it was devasting to me when I thought they were destroyed. Now, I just have to get them sized and they will once again be back on my finger.

My white counts got the best of me over the weekend. I had been working around rampant viruses for several weeks so was not really surprised when, on Christmas Eve, I myself came down with it. I didn't feel well on Christmas Eve but felt even worse on Christmas Day. Fortunately I have learned to roll with these types of things over the past year so was able to just defer to my wonderful family to take care of things so I was able to just sit back and enjoy. Feel a bit better today but have a wracking cough.

Didn't address the results of my cancer center appointment the other day because I just wanted to focus on Christmas. Now, I have to face the fact that due to an additional weight loss Dr. D. is moving forward with ordering several additional diagnostic tests this week and has contacted Dr. Hartje to schedule a colonoscopy as soon as possible. I got on the scale yesterday after being so sick for several days, assuming I had probably lost a couple more but was blown away to discover that I was down nine pounds since my appointment on Thursday. High on my list - gain that weight back before Dr. D. finds out. He is also scheduling a MUGA scan to check again on my heart function. Guess it's all back to reality now. My reality, anyway.

But, as I said, when things start getting tough, I can always transport myself back to Christmas, 2010, with the whole family sitting together in our living room. Like my ring, the circle was not broken this year. I will treasure that forever.

Later.