The Last Saturday

I know "the last Saturday" sounds a bit dramatic, but in a way it really was.  I started the day, February 7th, pondering the idea that this was going to be our last Saturday as a family before the treatment begins.  We are in for six months of chemotherapy and another three weeks of radiation treatment.  This is no small feat.  Even though Lymphoma is highly treatable, that treatment comes at a price.  

Over the course of the next year Sarah will most likely loose her hair, her energy will drop, and she will feel side effects from this treatment that I cannot imagine.  Life will throw new and more difficult challenges at us, and so I suppose I was both romanticizing about this "last Saturday", and also starting to grieve it's loss before it even began.  

So, let me tell you how this magical day unfolded.  It started with a tantrum from the resident two year old, a Daddy with low blood sugar and a bit of short fuse, and a Mommy whose patience  was wearing thin.  Next was our stop for lunch Charlie Hong Kong(the best organic chinese food in Santa Cruz).  This consisted of a meltdown over Marek's favorite concoction, bubble water and juice,  and culminated in him being hoisted over my shoulder and removed from the restaurant.  Ahh two year olds.  

It then progressed to a glamourous trip Costco, which was a little like entering a feeding frenzy while holding a bucket of chum.  We were tossed and turned, all while trying to subdue our little guy, and keep him from escaping from the confines of the giant shopping cart.  We exited just after hitting our boiling point, and were hoping that Marek would drift off to sleep on the drive home.  No such luck.  He was busy honing his skills as a professional button pusher.  The rest of the day consisted of a failed attempt at nap time, a mad cleaning session, and a horrible battle over getting the little man dressed to go to dinner at a friends house.  All in all it was tough.

If there is a lesson to be learned by the mystical "Last Saturday", it's that we can surely do better.  It's funny, and in retrospect a little ridiculous, the way we allow are minds to pick and choose the events that make up a memory.  Though the next year will be difficult, thus is life.  Thankfully we all have the ability to gloss over the rough patches when we recreate these days in our minds.  Most of all I'm thankful for all of the crazy Saturdays we have to look forward to in our lives together.

that's all for now.

thank you all for the love and support,

Dan