Following Through ...

Once again, I had the kind of day where I followed through on some ideas that were whirling around in my head. One idea is in the 'up in the air' stage as I wait to hear back from people. The other idea I had was to print off my blog and give it to my aunt to read.

She is in the hospital and I had gone to see her yesterday. Her parting words to me were something like, "If you ever write another book, I'd like to read it!" So in the 'quiet' of the morning, her words came back to me. I thought I could print off my blog entries and drop them off for her to peruse through, while she was confined to the hospital.

So I did it. The meanderings of my mind could be extremely tedious to go through. But a lot of the thoughts and feelings that I had before/during/after The Book have been documented here, so I thought there could be some interest for her. And besides, sometimes when you are in the hospital it is simply nice to have a diversion.

I dropped it off tonight and I'm glad I did. She had received bad news today and is scheduled for surgery on Thursday.

Just before I arrived, she said the news was starting to settle in. She talked about the events of the day and her concerns. It sounds like she has a wonderful doctor and she is so relieved that she is in the hospital - for her sake and her daughters. She said this way her daughter doesn't have to worry about her because she is being well taken care of.

This is an aunt that I have always felt a connection to, because Mom talked so much of her family and I felt like I knew this aunt better than I actually did. Then when we were collecting stories for The Book, I got to know her so much better. We exchanged letters, phone calls ... and I got to read her write-ups of her life (almost) first hand. It was an honor and a pleasure to feel this connection that I always felt that I had, become real. So when I found out that she was in the hospital in the city, there was no doubt in my mind that I would go to see her.

So her news today is unsettling. She is so strong and she has seen so much in her life. I can only envision her coming through this surgery and recovering to enjoy many more years. I truly can't believe or feel anything else.

She is strong. She is my hero ....