Ode to Joy: Halfway to the Finish Line

One of my greatest joys in life is my group of college friends. They are an amazing, loyal, gifted, smart, and hilarious bunch of women. And over the 20 years since our graduation from Vanderbilt, we have been in the thick of it, busy experiencing life and all that comes with it.  Many of them came to Nashville this past weekend, celebrating our reunion and the common thread of discussion seemed to be how many changes we’ve experienced in two decades: some of us have become more devout, some less; some of us are more liberal now, some more conservative. We have experienced tragedy, disappointment, loss, death, addiction, cancer, divorce. But really we have experienced more than our share of happiness and joy over the past 20 years. The eight women sitting in my living room drinking wine on Friday afternoon are are the exceptional mothers to 25 children. (Sorry Sally and Susan were not in town yet when this was taken!)

 One thing I love about these women I’m lucky enough to have as friends is that they take nothing for granted. They know they are the lucky ones and they are the most upbeat and uplifting people you can imagine. I love their exceptional ability to see past shortcomings and weaknesses, through to strengths and gifts. They love me thoroughly and completely for who I am, and not for the life I lead, or what I have accomplished or not accomplished. Our friendship is a priority and we never leave a get-together without a making plan for the next. We’ve spent hours talking about everything and nothing, the frivolous and the serious, and we don’t hold back. I have never left a weekend visit without laughing so hard I cried. We are indeed a mutual admiration society, and it is a gift I did not fully appreciate until now. 

One of these precious friends, Michelle, has been through this fight with breast cancer and she was also here this weekend, bearing gifts, scarves, advice and love. I will never be able to explain to her how much her support, information (just enough not to scare me to death) and love has carried me through. She is “that person” for me and I hope I can be “that person” to someone else.

And while I’m on the subject of life’s great joys, our family enjoyed a moment of pure amazement this weekend: Brown had a flag football game, in which he caught the ball and ran the length of the field for not just one, but two touchdowns! In previous games, he’d never even touched the ball. It was a great day; his grandparents from England were cheering on the sidelines. The temperature was absolutely freezing but I am pretty sure Brown never noticed. He has been walking on sunshine ever since - I am thrilled to see his confidence soar. 

So, my hair is falling out (not so joyful) and today I have the second of four chemo treatments. I am ready for rock bottom. But, as Michelle has said, it’s only up from here on out!  I’m glad I’ll be half way to the finish line by tonight.   

As as always, thank you to all of you who continue to feed us, pray for us, ferry my children around town and keep me in your thoughts. 

Love

BK