Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A "Happiness" Party

Last night was one of the most supremely satisfying times of my life. My mother had her last radiation treatment, after six weeks of daily radiation and four months of chemo. My sister came up with the idea of making her a cake and surprising her with a visit to celebrate this unbelievable achievement. It was everything I expected it to be and more. We hadn't really decided how we'd all enter the house, just that my sister and her husband would "drop by" (which they do often) and we would all show up 15 minutes later. As it so happens, my brother and his wife and their daughter, and two of my kids met up in the driveway. They called me and Tag on my cellphone and stealthily whispered "where are you"? When I said we were on my parents' road, they decided to wait for us. We all went quietly up onto the porch, then my brother John, who was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers, walked into the house with us all following behind. He passed my Dad, who was sitting at the kitchen table, and waved at him. My Dad, looking confused as we all traipsed by him, said, "Are we having a party?" My mom had her back to us as we came into the living room, so she was surprised over and over again as each of us stepped in front of her and gave her a big kiss and a "Congratulations!" By the time the last person kissed her, she was crying. The air of excitement was intense. My sister had made a cake with a pink ribbon on it that said, "We are so proud of you!" We only stayed an hour, but the whole hour was filled laughter and stories and such JOY! I haven't felt such intense joy as that in a long time, probably since my granddaughter was born in August. Our family has so much to be thankful for!

1 comment:

kenneth frank said...

Hey Karen,

you're doing a good job of updating, keep it up! you're on my RSS feed now so i'll never miss an entry :)