Third Weeks are Better

Why are third weeks better? Oh, for so many reasons. For starters, Carol begins the week feeling like she has something to prove and goes out and runs over 7 miles on Sunday. This morning, I come home as she has her shoes laced up and is heading out to do a brick session. This afternoon, we pick up Eliza at the airport. Later in the week, Carol and Eliza will ride Icelandic horses (I'm bringing the bike this time).  Third weeks are better because she has a semblance of her life back. Of course, towards the end of the third weeks, the first weeks loom. But knowing that the treatment has been bringing down her tumor markers helps make those first weeks a little easier to endure. And the knowledge that these third weeks do come -- that doesn't hurt, either.

Wishing you all awesome third weeks.

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"Beautiful people do not just happen." -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Along the camino, there sits a little rock doing a big job

One little stone...

Whether it's been Susan running in Grandma's Marathon (btw, great job, Susan!), Sylvie sending photos from the Camino de Santiago showing her decked out in the shirt made by the 100 on 100 team to support Carol, family shifting to accommodate us when our plans change at a moment's notice, the open offer for Callie to have doggie sleepovers, Kathryn and Doug showing up with good cheer and better soup, Harper wanting to go all over the park with Aunt Carol, and so much more, Carol and I are every moment touched by the kindnesses of those we love. As she prepares for her tenth treatment of this cycle, her neuropathy is a little worse, but she takes comfort that she'll be receiving one fewer drug tomorrow, which means that she'll be in the chair for less than five hours. She will still go home with the pump, but sooner.

Along the Camino de Santiago, there is a large iron cross ("Cruz de Ferro") surrounded by a rockpile some 20-30 feet high. It's customary for pilgrims on the walk to leave a rock or other token there, signifying an unburdening of one's soul. Before she left, Sylvie asked Carol to give her a rock, not too heavy, which she would place on the rockpile. That little rock now sits among its fellows at Cruz de Ferro.

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"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go;

they merely determine where you start."

          -- Nido Qubein