A Great Big Heart

We are off to Cape Cod tomorrow to spend next week with Mom, Dad, Katharine, Michael and me and our families.  It will be a great time. This is our 9th annual family trip to the Cape. For Mom and Dad it combines their favorite things - beach and grandkids.

Mom was able to successfully receive her chemo recently.  After her scheduled week off from chemo, her white blood cell counts were, in the words of her doctor, "excellent".  (Mom said it was so nice to hear him use the word excellent for something.)  After the first treatment in this round, to boost her white blood cells, she received shots at the hospital on WTF (that's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - that's a little joke from the family reunion). Those shots helped so she was able to receive her next chemo on schedule. Also her tumor blood marker had gone down from the 800s to under 400. So that's all very good.  She really was really wiped out yesterday probably as a residual side effect of the chemo earlier in the week, but feels much better today.

Mom and Dad have been having a great time with Katharine and her daughter. Mom woke up with them several times this past week in the middle of the night to watch the Perseids meteor shower.

Also this past week Mom went Katharine and her daughter to the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. She enthusiastically exclaimed to all of us that this was her favorite museum of all time!

Photo of the Big Hearts Sculpture, a favorite of Mom's

Photo of Mom with the Great Big Heart

Photo of Mom with Newspaper Sculpture, 

joking she discovered the crossword puzzle.  

Hope this sculpture does not give her or other

ephemera collectors we know any big ideas.

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A Starry Night

This past weekend Mom and Dad had a wonderful time at a family reunion and party at the farm. Folks came from as far away as Texas, North Carolina, Maine, Georgia, Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Mom loved having her sisters, her brother and their families all together - plus some of her cousins too. She also had friends there from elementary school through graduate school. Mom and Dad were able to meet a few young great-nieces and nephews for the first time, as well as connect with dear friends some of whom they had not seen a while. It was a weekend full of stories, laughs and great food that culminated with "A Starry Night" party in the barn. 

We hope to share some photos in the next few weeks, but I wanted to say a quick note of thanks to the many awesome people who helped Katharine, Michael and me plan and host the reunion. Also heartfelt thanks to all who were able to come - you being there is what made it so special.

As Mom said to everyone in the barn that night she has really felt lifted by everyone's prayers. Thank you.

Photo of Mom relaxing on the swings after the weekend.

For photos and comments, go to followingdenise.blogspot.com