Adventure Day One

May 6, 2008 – What I Remember from October 11, 2002.  We received an email from our daughter, Ellie, she writes: 

 

October 11, 2002 was just an ordinary day for me-sitting on my bed, doodling in my notebook, mentally preparing myself for work, as hard as that can be for a waitress at a restaurant.  My current living situation at that time in my life was nothing but awkward, really.

 

I moved out of my parent’s house earlier that year and was living with my boyfriend at that time and his family.  I graduated high school in 2001 and was just a very lost teenager, selfish and in denial.  Do I go to school?  Do I join the military?  Do I do everything my parents tell me to do?  How many jobs should I actually have?  Me, me, me, me, me….it was all about me. 

 

Have you noticed I have not mentioned my mom or dad?  It’s because at this time in my life, I seemed to never focus on my own family.  Huh…its ironic isn’t it?  Now that I look back, I never took time out to see my parents’ side of the story in life.  Rebellion seemed to be key, rebellion in my own way against them.  How could I have known my dad would be diagnosed with cancer?  Were there any signs?  No!  But I wasn’t even paying attention to what really mattered in life.

 

So there I was, sitting in bed and I hear the phone ring through the basement floor.  I heard footsteps coming downstairs - it was for me.  My boyfriend’s mother brought me the phone with a smile on her face.  She had no clue what this phone call was about and neither did I.  But I do remember she said, “It’s your mom”.  I actually kind of rolled my eyes and took a big sigh and was like “hello” in that irritating voice of mine.  Tears swell up in my eyes thinking about that moment in time.  It’s a combination of memories so clear, but some so blurred, as if I purposely erased them from my memory card. 

 

I could tell in my mom’s voice something was not right.  The conversation went something like, ”Rickey went to the doctor’s today and he may have cancer….we are not sure yet but he is going to call with the results in about an hour…..can you come home to be with me when he calls…..everything should be ok, but he could be sick….”  The first thing I thought was, “can I bring my boyfriend?”  How dumb was I?  Look at the issue at hand!  Holding back tears on the phone, I told my mom I would come over to her house immediately.  I ran upstairs, grabbed my boyfriend and my best friend Tina and we all drove over to my mom’s place.  I stared through the car window blankly the entire way there.  I do remember I sat in the car when I got there and waited for the tears to subside…when I stepped out of the car on my parents’ street, I took a HUGE breath in as if I already expected the worse but I could not cry for my mom’s sake.  We walk in and my mom explained everything to us and we sat there patiently…well impatiently.  The phone rang and my mom and dad conversed and then my mom tells me Rickey wants to talk to you…“breathe”, I kept telling myself…I know I was shaking when I was on the phone with my dad.  He said, from what I can recall, “I have leukemia, a form of cancer, and I will need to be treated for it…please be strong for your mother, she needs your strength when I tell her….’’  My dad told me to leave the room so that he could have a moment alone on the phone with my mom…..my boyfriend, Tina and I went into the guest room and sat down.  I remember crying and trying to hold it in but it was so hard! 

 

Life had changed in an instant – now nothing else mattered in my life except my family at that moment in time….I remember all three of us gave my mother a huge hug after her conversation had ended with my dad…..there was nothing we could do really…..I have a blurred vision of what happened next but I remember thinking life would be different – I did not know what to expect – but I needed to be strong for my mom and for the next steps we would all be taking together.

 

Until our next blog – remember life is an adventure, embrace the journey.  You can make a difference one day at a time. 

 

Share your adventure with us!

 

 

 

 

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