Laura’s life was slowly returning to normal.  She was back to doing all the things she loved.  Her hours at work returned to a regular schedule and she no longer needed my afternoon help.  This was a good feeling for both of us.  I went to her journal.  I was curious to see how she described these past few days.  I found short and simple entries…  “Not much going on.  Today was a good day.  Everything was good.”      If Laura wasn’t at work, you could probably guess where you could find her.  Sitting on the floor playing with the grandkids.  Spending time with them is what she…

  October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   Laura was so excited about this month.  As she put it… “This month is all about PINK!”  Laura decided she was going to wear something pink every day.  And if Laura was going to wear pink, that meant all of us at work were going to wear pink too.   October is dedicated to bringing awareness to breast cancer.  But to Laura, this month was about giving back.  She started the day by baking 160 ribbon and heart shaped cookies.  Each one frosted with pink icing.  She planned to deliver these to the places she loved, the Doctor’s office, 54th St. Restaurant, Culver’s,…

  The first day of preschool was set to start in the morning.   Late that night, Laura sent me a text.  She was worried about   (as she put it) “stepping on people’s toes.”  I knew what that meant.  She hasn’t been back to work full time since her diagnosis.  Our preschool program follows the same schedule as our local school district.  The only exception is, we start in September instead of August.  We pretty much follow the same time frame as regular school.  Preschool starts in September and ends in May.  When Laura was diagnosed, she missed the latter half of our previous preschool year.  She returned to work part…

  It’s Wednesday.  Hooray!  Laura was able to receive chemo.  Her counts were up, just enough to get by.  This time Laura greeted the nurses with a sausage and cheese tray.  The visit went well.  The night went well too.  There were no late-night texts.  Hopefully, we are passed all these rough late nights.  I sure hope so.  My fingers are crossed just in case.    There isn’t a whole lot to report on.  Life is going on as normal.  Laura was working, having lunch with friends, she even went to Disney on Ice with her sweet grandson, Caleb.  The most exciting thing that happened this week was a new…

  We went on with our travels and ended up at Niagara Falls.  It is more powerful and beautiful than you could ever imagine.  We made sure to tour both the U.S. and Canada side.  Both sides were equally amazing.  I will say one thing I found interesting… The dollar drinks from McDonalds in New York will cost you three dollars.  Be prepared.    I haven’t heard much from Laura.  We haven’t had any more of those lengthy conversations since the one I had with her in the golf cart.  By looking at my texts, there were maybe three or four messages a day.  Most of them saying… “How’s your…

  Before I tell this next story, I want to talk about how I have been feeling.  In the previous chapter I talked about being there for people.  Help the friends in your life through their difficult times.  Take the time to be present.  You never know if someone is in the ‘dark place.’  They may need someone to reach out their  hand and pull them out.  It’s worth it, I wrote.  And it is!  I’m not going to lie and tell you all of this was easy, because it was not.  Sometimes it was hard.    I also want to make clear… These were my own personal feelings as…

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015   No chemo day message today.  It was not needed. ‘I bet you’re glad you’re not going to receive any more ‘short stories’ from me.’  I laughed when I wrote this.  It seems like my chemo day messages were now turning into short novels, instead of a quick simple text. ‘I can’t believe you are almost halfway done.  I hope your counts are good.  Let me know how it goes.  Btw… Who’s going with you today?’   Laura was adjusting well to this set of chemo, so I felt there was no reason to send her a pep talk.  “Counts are good,” she said.  “This is…

  I always have a story to tell.  If a situation arises that I think you need to hear it, I will tell you.  Laura wanted me to share this story.   Let’s go back to the time when my mom was having her heart surgery.  Something else happened that week that I will never forget.  I will briefly refresh your memory about this event…    My parents live at the Lake of the Ozarks, which is about a three-hour drive from here.  The hospital that my mom was staying at, was 45-minutes from their house.  As I have talked about earlier, Clint and I chose to stay at a…

  Just like I have mentioned earlier, Laura kept losing my texts.  I thought I had explained this well enough.  You know… To plead my case.  Here is a prime example of what I have been talking about.    I had been scrolling through our old phones searching for material to write this book, when I came across these… Pay close attention here so you know I am NOT making this stuff up! Here is a random text I received…   July 6th, 2015   6:48 PM Laura speaking- “Well I only have your texts since July 3rd.  I think Caleb hit something on my phone.  LOL.  You will need to…

  The girl’s weekend was over, and the Doctor’s visits had begun.  Monday morning, Laura went to see the cardiologist.  This visit went well.  Laura no longer needed to take the medication to slow her heartrate.  The Doctor said to take it, only if you feel you need it.  That made Laura smile.  Future visits were only necessary if Dr. R. recommended it.    Tuesday, she had an appointment with the surgeon.  Laura noticed some leakage coming from Gertie.  Dr. Be. examined her and said everything was fine.  The drainage was still higher than what she wanted it to be.  It had been steadily registering at 45.  She suggested they…