Farewell and New Blog

Dear friends;

Thank you to all of you who have asked about my well being since I stopped posting on this blog. I am doing well. In fact, other than still dealing with some side effects and generally needing to rebuild my strength, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  My doctor assures me that things look good.  I have only 4 more maintenance chemos left so soon will be done with that. I am even tolerating those better. There is talk of removing my port! So I feel like I can get back to living and focusing on other things.

I started this block so that my Mom could stay up with what was happening with me, but Mom has passed to heaven and now is watching over me from a much better vantage point!  Because she is no longer needing to hear my sad stories and because I want to put this chapter of my life behind me,  I am going to cease writing this blog.

However,  the good news is, I am encouraged by many people to continue writing, so I will be launching a new blog not about the trials and tribulations of a cancer survivor, but about where I see God at work in our world. I probably will not write daily entries but will do my best to write frequently. It is called Snapshots and you can find it here if you are interested:

esthergillie.wordpress.com 


Meanwhile, thank you all so much for hanging in there with me - for all your prayers and support and cards and help.  I could not have survived without you and especially not without the grace of God.  Thank you and God bless you all.

Esther. 

Catching Up

Plunge in with both feet. Now that I have met my grandson, I need to focus on work. There are so many aspects to think about. Back to desk duty. Back to meetings. Back to handling all those little questions that arise in the course of a day. Back to music and singing and choir. Back to writing and reading and research. Back to friends and praying and patients. Back to appointments and procedures and exercising. Back to driving and cooking and cleaning. Back to papers and walking Sugar and getting the mail.

How grateful I am that I am able to live! How happy to have a fulfilling life and lots to occupy my time. How great is it that I have family and friends and colleagues? What a blessed and fortunate person I am to find myself in the midst of a productive and pleasant way of life. I settle in with joy, not minding the tiredness. Just thankful that I have moved beyond immediate danger and into a place of recovery. To life!

On the Road Again

No chance to make the return trip in a 2 day way. I need to get back and so does Kiel. Besides, the rental car is due. We leave later than I would have liked to, but manage to find the way I wanted to come in the first place. It is shorter and involves more super highway driving. I am worn to a bare thread and grateful I do not need to drive. Every turn of the tires takes me farther from my babies and my heart is sad. I already miss them terribly, especially the baby. The trip home is without incident. I return the car, unpack and fall into my own cozy bed for which I am ever so grateful.

I am glad I went. I have some sense that I will not be able to go for awhile - not sure if bad weather is on the way or I just won't have the resources to go. I want to wave a magic wand and be able to see them much more often, but I have no magic that can eliminate the miles between us. Maybe it is just as well. Our visits are all the more special because they are so far apart. Now I must focus on regaining strength so I can pick up where I left off. Thank the good Lord for a wonderful trip and for three darling grandchildren whom I treasure greatly.