There is NOTHING - absolutely nothing...

 

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	11.7	13-17	^
Platelets	114	140-375	^
ANC	1950	1800-8300	^

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 "Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats," said Mole to Ratty. So goes a famous quote from The Wind in the Willows, by famed English author Kenneth Grahame. Back in my sailing days, I wholeheartedly embraced this philosophy, and honestly to this day I believe there is some truth in it. But having just spent three days with daughter Laura and her husband Tim, our three grandsons Josiah, Judah and Malachi, as well as daughter Tara, I am prepared to admit that Mole's pronouncement has slipped to at least second place. 

I tell you, my young friend, their is NOTHING - absolutely nothing - half so worth doing as simply messing about with a loving family.  My heart aches for those who have never known that joy. My only regret about this time is that we could not have been joined by son Patrick and his wife Katie and our two granddaughters, Ryanne and Megan. Jill and I agree that such visits from our children and grandchildren fill up our hearts and our spirits like nothing else on earth. 

Josiah is about to graduate from high school, so this was an especially sweet visit, because we had determined we would not be able to travel to San Diego to attend the ceremony. Instead, we were able to have our own private graduation party in his honor. We are blessed to be able to help reduce their cost of traveling by tapping into our mostly unused travel budget. We set aside something each month in that account, but mostly have been unable to use it since before the pandemic. 

We didn't do anything in particular except to share meals, hang out together, play some games and laugh...and laugh...and laugh some more. There were many hugs, and I love you's exchanged, and we all determined to do it all again some time soon. 

If you have close family, you may be saying to yourself, "Yada, yada, yada...this is old news." Perhaps it is, but it was all made possible by the numbers in the Box Score above. All my blood counts went up just in sync with the arrival of the family. Thank you, Lord. This was a huge gift. I was able to fully enjoy the family and even participate in a family game of keep-away in the yard using a Frisbee and lots of running around. I impressed even myself. 

I believe the family was comforted to see me being able to join in the fun, even though it was quite physical. It is easy to imagine that someone you know who has cancer has to lie around all day and not enjoy life. That is not always so, and I was glad to be able to show them that, in spite of everything, I'm still the same old grandpa who helped build a fence in their yard, retiled a shower, built a tree house for the boys along with other projects over the years. Some of them I couldn't do now, but at least I am able to still have fun in the yard with the family. 

So, here's a tip of the hat to my oncology team for the marvelous care I receive and to our Lord for his providence and to our lovely and loving family for their willingness to travel great distances to share all of this joy with me and Jill. 

Thank you, family...  Sorry, Mole...I do still love you!