Okay. So if you've been following our blog, you've probably noticed that we haven't been very good at updating it. Sure, we've had the random mobile post, but even they have been lacking. After all, this blog is titled 'Making Memories'. If we aren't posting, we aren't sharing those memories!
On the other hand though, maybe you aren't really interested in the memories we've been making lately. Grammy's boyfriend, FBD (Freaky Blood Disorder), recently decided that it wasn't exciting being a twosome anymore. He thought that it would be way more fun to invite his good friend, Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma, to the party. Good times we've been having here at the Badelves' abode, I tell ya!
I'll just skip over the parts about Grammy's nodes taking a nice long vacation to North Carolina, the long awaited diagnosis, the first chemo treatment, the bottoming out of her red/white cells and platelets, and head directly to the best part of this journey...the departure of the hair.
I am totally dating myself here, but does anyone remember the classic country song "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" by Hank Locklin? My Dad was a country musician and Mom enjoyed listening to his music. When I was a little girl, I remember this song coming from the speakers in our living room quite often. If you've never heard it, give it a listen so you'll understand the next part of the story better.
I'm going to take a guess and say that you didn't listen to it. No problem! Just nod your head and pretend that you understand. Mark does it all the time, so I won't be offended. ;)
About a week ago, Grammy walked into the computer room and began to sing these words to the melody of the song above.
That would be the song you were supposed to listen to.
"Please help me, I'm balding My hair's on the floor. When I looked in the mirror It wasn't there anymore."
She even planned a bit of spontaneous choreography to go along with her lyrics. She took it over the top when she threw in some 'jazz hands' and clumps of her lovely silver locks floated through the air!
I know, I know. She wouldn't call them 'lovely silver locks', but doesn't it sound nice?
Seeing that we are just completely and totally out of our minds, we all fell to the floor and began to laugh hysterically!
And you should be, too! Don't you agree that laughter is the best medicine of all?
After that, it became a competition to see who could get the most hair out of Grammy's head. We started to have 'hair pulling parties', which really didn't include any pulling because the hair would just come out the moment you ran your hands through it! Seeing the three of us go at Grammy's head freaked poor Mark out, and he refused to join in on the fun. Party pooper!
Notice the amount of hair on that brush? That was just one swipe over her head, and you should see the amount the little Miss was holding in her hands!
What? You expected her to actually pose for a photo without something in front of her face? We don't call her Wilson for nothin'!
And so the fun continues. As long as her numbers are better, she is scheduled for her second round of chemo on Wednesday. That leaves us exactly one day to find something to put on her head when we take her to her oncologist. After all, we wouldn't want her adorable little noggin to get burnt to a crisp in this hot Georgia sun!
Meet our little Ohana...Mare, Mark, and Renee. We spend our days attempting to cherish and treasure every single one of life's moments while living, loving, learning, and laughing together. Sometimes, when life allows us, we even visit our favorite place on earth-Walt Disney World.
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."~Dr. Seuss
I’ve seen how disruptive it can be for parents to have specific dreams for their children. My job is to help my kids foster a joy for life and develop the tools to fulfill their own wishes. My wishes for them are very exact and, given that I won’t be there, I want to be clear: Kids, don’t try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become. And I want you to feel as if I am there with you, whatever path you choose. ~Randy Pausch
Real, natural learning is in the living. It's in the observing, the questioning, the examining, the pondering, the analyzing, the watching, the reading, the DO-ing, the living, the breathing, the loving, the JOY. It's in the joy. ~Anne Ohman
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss