It Was For A Purpose

On this day 12 years ago, Bill and I walked into the big doors of MD Anderson Cancer Center for the very first time. Two days before (October 14 is our family's "cancerversary") we heard those two little words that changed our lives forever: "it's cancer".

Only days into our family's war on lymphoma, we recognized our duty to comfort people who were fighting cancer. Truthfully, we recognized this many years before. Bill and I both know the feeling of being a child walking through a children's hospital and seeing little kids with leukemia fight for their lives. My baby brother fought for his life in 1977 at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. He is alive today and his life is very, very good.

Bill's sister Michelle did not survive leukemia. At the age of six, she became another casualty in the war against cancer. We have had too many friends and family members die of cancer for us not to know early on that this had to be part of God's plan for us- comforting those who feel the extreme pain of cancer.

At the time of Bill's diagnosis, we were so overwhelmed and busy trying to save him that we didn't think about that "calling" often, but deep inside, we knew it was all part of the plan to get us deeper into the cancer community to help people.

What a journey it's been these 12 years! The past year has been quite confusing. Bill has been going in every couple of months to MD Anderson to check for high cancer markers. But a week ago, we got the news that we had hoped for: NED (No Evidence of Disease). We love NED!

It's now a beautiful Friday morning. Kind of chilly out now, but expected to warm up and then be a perfect weekend. I'm starting to feel a change in our spiritual and emotional season too. Fresh and beautiful. Beauty for ashes! If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. This has been a very painful year. The cancer scare was nothing compared to the other part of this life journey. But for the first time in a very long time, I am feeling some peace come our way. The horror of our storm is something I would never wish to live again, but I know it was for a purpose.

Fall Morning

It's a beautiful fall Sunday morning at Casa Crews. As I sit out back with my coffee, I feel ever so grateful for peaceful moments. In this intense life we live, we don't get too many of those so when I have a few minutes of just sitting out back on a cool, crisp Autumn morning, I feel profound gratitude.

Plans changed for us slightly last night. We had thought we would head to bed early and get up for a run this morning. But we had a crisis to deal with. When your teenager hurts, you hurt with your teen. Even if on the surface you think it's no big deal, the truth is usually that the thing they are crying or screaming about is not what is really bothering them. So, you patiently sit with them, cry with them, hold them if they let you, stay calm if they yell at you and blame you. You have to dig deep, but if you can stay calm in the storm, the storm will finally calm.

It did last night and things ended at Casa Crews at almost 1:00 in the morning, but in a way that was worth the lack of sleep. When you have teenagers, you are thankful for any time they want to spend with you. So, with all four of us and the dog laying in the family room cuddled under blankets watching a movie, we got a little time of happy.

Because you never know what a day may bring, I will right now be grateful for the peaceful moment I'm in and for the happiness of being with my family last night. Later today, I'll head to the Greek Festival in Houston and celebrate that fun lively part of my heritage. May the day be blessed.