Day 22: Chocolate Truffle Cake

Day 22: Yay for Birthday Cake!

So today Tracy took me to pick out my birthday cake from Delicious Bakery here in Greensboro. It's a lovely local bakery and cafe with a number of cakes ready for decorating. Luckily for me, they had a small chocolate truffle cake on hand. The woman behind the counter asked if I wanted to have anything written on the top of the cake, and out of the blue I said "YAY." don't know quite where that came from, but it was the most perfect cake I've ever seen! So YAY! For birthdays and chocolate truffle cakes, and family and friends, and life in general!

Day 21: More Music, More Friendship, and Hugs

Day 21: Music, Friendship, & Hugs, oh my.

Christmas Eve, for the most part, was spent at home enjoying solitude, Christmas music, and baking cookies. We did, however, have to venture out into the world to get milk for our Christmas morning coffee. There was simply no way around it. We need coffee in the morning, and we were out of milk.

We set out for our corner Harris Teeter (a mile away), which of course was packed - seeing as it was Christmas Eve and everyone was getting their last minute items before the store closed for the Holiday. As we were checking out, a very familiar woman walked up to me and asked me how I was doing. For the LIFE of me I couldn't place her, but rather than ask 'how do I know you?' I just casually and cooly played along, answering her question - letting her know my status. At the end of our conversation we hugged, as if old friends.  It wasn't until I got out to the car that I realized she was the pathologist who did my biopsy & the person who had to tell me I had breast cancer!  I'd not seen her since that visit back in June (when I had hair). So I was terribly impressed that she recognized and remembered me.

That same visit to the grocery store, we also ran into our friend Mark who is the musical director at our church - more hugs ensued.

Of course, a few hours later we ventured out to the Christmas Eve service at our Unitarian Universalist Church (where we saw Mark again).  We got to sing (a lot) and got many hugs from friends (& even got some hugs from people I've never met, but who know me through my Carepages/blog).  I just love that connectedness that is always there even with people we don't know, or don't know very well.

We came home from that service feeling both rejuvenated and tired. We popped in It's a Wonderful Life, made some decaf coffee, wrapped some presents, and settled in for the rest of the evening.

Day 20: Reconnecting

Day 20: Reconnecting with Family and Friends

Magic #1, Family: While we were in Asheville, we stayed with my cousin Cheryl and her family. Now, the last time I saw Cheryl was several years back at her sister's wedding, and prior to that, I was probably 17 or 18 (so... 20+ years).  The funny & wonderful thing about my family is that when we're in the same room, it's as if we've never been apart - even if it's been decades since we last saw one another. It is really a wonderful feeling to be so surrounded by love and kinship. It is, I hope, what I bring to every single one of my relationships because it just feels, for lack of a better word, beautiful.

Both Tracy and I got the chance to reconnect with Cheryl and her family, over food (of course, because enjoying good food is in our genes); over music as Tracy and Cheryl's husband Monty played guitar and mandolin & we all sang along; and over conversation, in which even the youngest of us (Cade, soon to be 12) easily kept up with and sometimes drove the conversation.

THEN we got to reconnect with my Dad's older brother Walter, who has always been pure joy to talk with. Walter is THE storyteller in a family of storytellers, and I never get tired of listening to and learning from him.  My grandfather died when I was too young to know him, so I get a lot of his history through the stories that Walter tells (and, of course, I get the scoop on my Dad as well).

Magic #2, Friends: On the morning before we had to leave Asheville, we had tea with our friend Patti Digh - a wonderful treat, considering a). she is such a busy person and author (always working on something), b). it was so close to the Holidays, and c). her daughter was home from college.  We met at the Dobra Tea House and had the most wonderful tea and conversation filled with laughter.  She gave me a beautiful candle (which I ceremoniously light every day), and photographs she took of Beaver Lake (dubbed 'Low Blood Pressure Lake'), so that I may meditate on them throughout my recovery.  The photographs now hang on a ribbon that I can keep in the hospital room during my stay, then bring home to hang next to my bed.

Magic #3, Connections: Among the conversations we had with Patti, we'd mentioned my cousin Cheryl; and likewise we'd mentioned Patti to Cheryl.  The evening after we left, Cheryl and family went out to get ice cream. As chance would have it, Patti decided to do the same.  When Tracy and I got back to Greensboro, we both received text messages: Mine was from Cheryl, exclaiming that she'd just met Patti Digh! and Tracy's was from Patti, exclaiming she'd just met Cousin Cheryl! -- to which, I can only say, it's a crazy, wonderful world and I am honored to be a part of it.

Day 19: Get Outa' Town

Day 19: Take a Trip / Make a Change of Scenery

With all of the Holiday hubbub and my impending surgery, we decided to get the heck outa' Dodge for a couple of days and drove to Asheville to visit with friends and family - of course there was MUCH magic to be had with our visit, so I will be dividing the trip into multiple, magical posts.

Magic #1: On Tuesday last, Tracy and I loaded up the car and the CD player and drove to the mountains, often singing (not quite) at the top of our lungs.

Magic #2: While in Asheville, we visited Malaprops Bookstore (twice). The first visit we lingered in the small shop, perusing over and buying a plethora of books - one of which I had wrapped by the loveliest of women with whom I struck up a genial conversation.  BECAUSE we had bought so many books (support your independent bookstores!), we got a coupon for a free cup of coffee.

We decided, the next morning, to head back to Malaprops to cash in our free coffee. As we were sitting in the little café, who should come up and say hi to us by name, and chat for a bit, but Virginia - the woman who wrapped my book (and a slew of other people's books) the previous day. I am always so impressed when people, whom you've only met once, remember you.

Magic #3: While we were galavanting around downtown Asheville, we visited the Grove Arcade - a lovely old office building with first floor shops selling local fare.  (The Grove Arcade just happens to be where my Grandfather had his doctor's office once upon a time.) While there, we visited a lovely yarn shop and couldn't leave without buying a beautiful, orange felted hat for me (which proved to be quite useful when it later rained).

Magic #4: We also visited the historic Grove Park Inn to view the National Gingerbread House Contest, which was insanely amazing, as was the architecture et. al for the Inn. It was decided that upon my 5-year mark of being cancer free, we'd go back and make use of their fabulous spa facilities. (so, calendars marked for 2017 spa weekend!)

Magic #5: Reconnecting with Friends and Family - telling stories, playing music, eating great food, and realizing just how connected we all are (details in a separate post).

Magic #6: As we were preparing to head back home, at the advice of a friend, we made one last stop at Beaver Lake just north of where we were staying. It was a drizzly, grey day, but the lake was calm and beautiful, and ducks greeted us as we walked by. It was a nice, Zen way to end our visit.

Day 18: Prayer Tree

No excuses really, just caught up in the whole Holiday season, and then there's the cancer thing.... We've been doing pretty well since I last posted but got a little lax with the making of magic, so things will be a little out of order here:

DAY 18: Make a Wish/Prayer Tree

In the vein of the Japanese (Shinto) prayer trees, we thought we'd make our own tree (out of fallen branches and an old vase). For some reason, the people who designed our apartment decided that in one corner of the living room they'd put a small sink with nondescript mirrors above it, and call it a 'wet bar.' It isn't at all practical - there's no room for alcohol or glassware & the sink is TINY. We've never been able to figure out a way to either use it or mask it - until now.  NOW, the tiny sink holds the vase that contains our 'tree,' and instead of avoiding that corner, we visit it daily.

Right, so the Wish Tree basically holds wishes or prayers that we've written out on small pieces of paper, then tied onto its branches.  Sometimes it's just names of people who might be having a hard time and need to be 'held in the light' (as the Quakers would say), sometimes it's little poetic thoughts or gratitudes, and sometimes it's a specific wish (like 'please rid Emily M. of cancer and keep her healthy for the rest of her long life.')

We found that this is a wonderful way to create ritual and make physical all those wishes and prayers we hold in our heads/hearts - it gives strength to those thoughts, and provides reminders (to us at least), that these people play an important role in our existence.