October 23, 2000 -- Going to Florida
We made our annual trip to Florida today. Our neighbor, Arnold, the good guy that he is, got up and took us to the airport at 5:00 am! I'm not sure I could call myself that good a neighbor!
Our trip was pretty uneventful. (Many of you know the hang-ups, delays, presidential visits, snowstorms that made 3 of our last 4 trips more eventful than we'd have liked!) We arrived around 10:30 or so, picked up our rental car (white, of course) and made our way to Dave's parent's house.
Usually when we arrive we've barely turned into the driveway and his mother is out the door to greet us. This time, we made it all the way into the house, then when she saw us, she said, "Oh, it's you!" She was expecting Frank Sinatra?
Actually, Dave's brother Jon also had a white car, so when she saw us pull into the driveway, she thought we were Jon. Oh well. So much for greetings!
We got ourselves settled and changed into shorts -- hadn't been able to wear them up here in a while. One of the first comments both Dave's parents made was that he had lost weight. They wanted to know if he was trying to lose weight, or if he'd been sick. A little of both, Dave told them. Fortunately, they didn't pick up on it, and we visited for a while.
One by one, Dave's brothers started arriving (he has 5, by the way. Dave is the oldest.). Eventually they all got there and the festivities began. Dave's mother plans monthly birthday parties, so there were 4 birthdays being celebrated at this one. We sat around and visited, talked and ate. Presents were opened and cake was served. When all was settling down, we gathered everyone together to tell them our news.
Dave presented it well. He told them he hadn't been feeling well so he went to the doctor, and the course of events that followed. He made sure they knew it wasn't life threatening and that with a bone marrow transplant he'd be okay. He then asked his brothers if they'd be willing to have a blood test done to see if their blood would match his (a process called tissue typing). Our biggest fear is that one or more of them wouldn't want to do it. Fortunately, we were wrong. Very wrong. They were more than willing. If they could have gone and had it done right then, they would have. They were wonderful!
After we got done telling them all we knew, and answering their questions, they hugged us and told us if there was anything they could do, they'd do it. All we needed to do was ask.
A huge weight was lifted off our shoulders. We had been dreading this -- having to tell his family, not knowing what they would say or how they would react. And knowing that by telling them, we would be changing their lives forever, just as ours had been.
We were glad to be able to tell them at the beginning of our vacation. It made the rest of our vacation more enjoyable. We were able to relax, knowing we had gotten the hard part out of the way.
Thanks for stopping by.
Allison