Coffee Rides and Birthday Parties

Good weather was a long time in coming to Michigan this year. It was rather like a pregnancy coming to full term with several episodes of false labor near the end. One day there was snow on the ground, the next tee shirt weather. Then they blared freeze/frost warnings all over the TV for days on end only to have 72 degree temps during the day. It's frustrating but at least you know something good will be there when the waiting is over. I think summer weather is finally here to stay for our all-too-short good weather season... the baby has been born!

Papa and I went for a coffee ride last week. This is our "thing"... coffee rides. I can not brew a decent cup of coffee and I do not drink it anyway, but Papa does. So every day the first thing on the agenda is to go to 7-eleven. I always drive. This started because after my first husband's death in a car accident, I had to be in control in a car. I get very nervous when other people drive, I white-knuckle and phantom brake. Then when Papa became a driver, I drove to give him a rest... he still wanted the ride and the coffee but wanted to be able to relax after being on the road. I go in and make him a cup of coffee and get a snack for him, maybe the newspaper too. Then we go for a "deer ride" in the countryside and look for deer, Canada geese, cranes, Blue Heron's and egret's, fish that come up from the river to spawn in the huge field drainage ditches. This is a routine of long standing. We have always taken anyone who wants to go with us and we raised a generation of "deer riders." We are working on generation #4 (Papa and I are generation #2 as his parents were also riders) because Lia and Mae-Mae love to ride too, in fact Mae will throw a huge fit if Papa and I leave without her. Eli, on the other hand, is a "destination rider." He does not like the deer rides unless there is a purpose to them, a destination at the end, like the zoo or Barnes and Noble or a picnic near the boat launch. He gets dragged along anyway if his mom wants to go. I just tell him the destination is eventually back home.

On this particular ride, as we came to the up-side of an over pass, I could see how beautiful the countryside had become. There were pine trees in dark green, deciduous trees in many delicate shades of green with their brand new leaves, some that looked like they were covered with a veil of pale green lace. Rays of sunlight shined through puffy clouds down on a farmer's field where neatly furrowed rows revealed the barely visible haze of new green sprouts. The week before it seems that field was still covered with corn stalk rubble and standing water from the days and days of rain. The banks of the big ditch were dressed in old, blown cattails and the green stalks of what will be beautiful tiger lily's in a few more weeks. We could see a pair of mallard ducks swimming with their choo-choo train of ducklings following behind. Mae-Mae was in the back of the van in her car seat, chattering away, happy to be with Omes and Papa. "Mae-Mae fuff Mingama," she said. Translation... I love Papa. She has always called Papa Mingama, we have no idea why or where it came from.

It was an absolutely perfect, God given, moment in time.

A day or two later, Friday the 21st, Papa had another visit to the doctor. This visit was to find out the results of the latest blood work and CT scan. You remember that he had the fluid at the base of his lung that the doctor wanted to check. Well... drum roll please... I am ecstatic to report that the doctor said they could find no sign of the cancer. The fluid is gone and his tumor marker was 28, normal. Papa's cancer is in remission.

As you can well imagine, this news took our breath away. It was not what we expected. We rode around and did some errands, we called various children to tell them the news. But most of all, we savored this news alone, together. A huge weight had been lifted from us. We discussed possibilities, we made plans. Papa had been given a reprieve.

What do we do now? Actually, the same as we have been doing. Papa will have many more tests and scans to see if the cancer returns. Knowing what we know about pancreatic cancer, it probably will but in the mean time we will enjoy. He has to go back in September or October for more blood work and extensive CT scan's. It seems like light years away.

That night we celebrated by going out to dinner with as many children as we could muster up on such short notice. We had a great time, even Papa who does not really enjoy going to restaurants. Then this past Sunday was youngest grandchild's first birthday party. This was held at the parent's house, Ben and Sara's. They had invited many of their friends, as well as family and there was a pretty big crowd there, with lots of little kids running around. It was a very hot and sunny day (finally) and Ben had wading pools filled with icy cold water sitting out for the kids, complete with squirt guns. Those kids had a blast. A few adults got pretty wet too, mostly my sons. There was much hugging as people reconnected with friends they hadn't seen for a long time, much ooooing and ahhhing as each exclaimed over the beauty of the other persons children. It was so much fun to watch, so good to be a part of. Later, Noelle puzzled about the birthday cake that was set in front of her but then she finally dug in with both hands and got her first taste of sweets. The party was a good time and good timing too. It was a great celebration of life, both for the one year old and the 61 year old.