Yesterday morning started with a frenzied feel complete with a handful of heart-wrenching tears. It was the day of the poker tournament and Chandler and I were finishing up the last minute details on the auction preparation. I had gone out to run the dog, only to find 1/4 mile down the road that he was limping. Hrmpf! We walked back home and found Faith red-faced and runny-nosed crying in her dad's arms. She had her heart set on spending the night at Madi's but WE were chickening out. Chandler told Faith that Madi could stay here and, boom, waterworks! This kid doesn't cry easily, not with needle sticks, port accessing, nothing. But take away her chance at freedom with her friend....I get it, Chandler gets it, we are just scared. So, Chandler hugged me and whispered in my ear, "maybe we need to give a little and trust", I nod and we turn around to deliver the good news. Faith CAN spend the night at her friends. Her tear-streaked, puffy, red face beams. Not with victory, like when kids dupe their parents into making a different decision, but with pure joy! She is thrilled and I am holding my breath a little until Sunday when she returns. I trust my friends with my kid, undoubtedly, but, well, you just never know.
Faith and Madi! So we load my car, my sister's car, and some even in brother's car and head to the bar to set up. There is so much! Wow! How did all of this happen?!? We have been organizing auctions for years for the girls school and never, ever, have we been able to get stuff like this. It's a true testament to the power of friendship and human kindness. The day may have started out rocky, but it's recovered beautifully! We have successfully set up the auction without so much as a dirty look or an under-the-breath mutter from anyone, and we are ready to go. I truly thought we had too much help at first. Boy, was I wrong! Cristi comes in "I am here to report for duty!" Um, ok. I don't know what you should do. My college friend Heather "tell me what to do, I'll do anything!" Oh, hell, I got this, like I said before, I am a self-sufficient women...right?!? Ok, wrong. Thank God for those two ladies! Cristi has taken over registration and handling payments for 50/50 raffle, bracelets, poker and pies, while Heather slides into position to monitor the on-line vs. live auction going on. What was I thinking?!? There is no way that I could handle the task of managing a busy auction while enjoying the guests that have come to support us.
Gilbert Fire Department It was a great turnout! I know Max was worried that he was light poker players, but it worked out to be a blessing. Friends and members of our community flooded the bar. The poor waitresses never saw it coming! Every time I looked up I saw someone new, some familiar faces, some faces I haven't seen in years, and some I never would have expected! Kenny came from Prescott, James and Bethany shocked us by coming down from Flagstaff, Jessica and Becky I haven't seen in years, literally, years! Our old friend Robin and her whole family surprised us, too. My heart was warmed when a couple we had "fallen out of friendship" with not only showed up, but played poker, too! Thank you! So many of our friends and neighbors continued to support us just by coming (I pray they know how much they mean to me). Even the Gilbert fire department came and graciously showed the kids (and Rich and I) around the fire truck. I don't know what it is about a fire truck that is so thrilling, but they get me every time and make me feel like a kid again! It was a reunion and it was fun!
The final table It was perfectly timed, too. Yesterday was the day that we were supposed to leave on our annual trip to Rocky Point, our family getaway. No cell phones, no computer, no work, just fun on the beach eating mangos off a stick, buying cheap, almost free "ewelery" from the locals and breathing in the salty, humid ocean air. When I close my eyes during a quiet moment, I can almost smell it! I think Chandler and I would have been pretty down this weekend had we not been so busy preparing for the auction and tournament.
We have several friends going down during the break who have thoughtfully asked what they can bring back for us since we can't go. It's true that there are things in Rocky Point that we look forward to buying, but that's not the best part of the trip. It's the feel and smell of it and the little nuances and traditions we've picked up in the 7 or so years we've been going. Friday night, the night we usually would be packing up, we sat at dinner with the girls and reminisced about past. Kady's first favorite memory is the way her dad always drives around the round about several times just before we arrive at our resort, windows down, music blaring, celebratory soda in hand! They both like getting their hair braided and buying virgin strawberry daiquiris from the swim-up bar. Chandler likes how we always try to sneak into the resort next door and use their slide and how we would play Ping-Pong at The Reef and have lunch at Moonshots above the fish market (I think Faith has a crush on the bartender there!). We all will miss homemade happy hour on the beach at sunset, swimming in the ocean, and looking for dolphins and sand dollars. Last year, Faith found the biggest most perfect sand dollar I have ever seen. I swore that it must have been purchased at the gift shop, but she had her dad with her to attest to it's authenticity. To this day she beams with pride when she talks about it. I will miss the feeling of ease that comes over me when we open the condo door, see the ocean on the other side and breath in Mexico...the smell to me that is family, fun, and just ahhhh! all that we work so hard for during the rest of the year.
Several times Chandler's sister, Wendi, and her family would go with us. My 15 year old niece, Katherine, was recently assigned the task of writing her memoir. Her story was beautifully written and centered mostly around Faith's cancer. I selfishly never really considered how it was affecting the kids, any of the kids for that matter, other than my own, but it does affect them. It affects us all. Katherine's tale included some her memories of our trips to Mexico. I am going to close by including an excerpt from that. Thank you, Katherine for sharing it with me and allowing me to share it here! Thank you to Wendi and Dan for allowing your kids to skip school to come to Mexico and make memories with us!
We used to travel down to Rocky Point Mexico every year in October for a week. Faith and Kady would have school off but Ryan and I would skip school. We would fly out to Arizona and then drive the long drive down to Rocky Point. The cars would be loaded with food and supplies. There was barely enough room for us! Normally we would switch up the families that rode together. For example, instead of my mom, dad, Ryan and I riding together in the same car, My Uncle Chandler, my mom, Faith and I would ride down together. I remember Faith and I used to cram all of our Barbies into the car and we would play Barbies or watch Barbie movies the entire way down there.
One time on the road trip to Mexico, one of the cars got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. We put on the spare tire and stopped at the next stop to pay and get a new tire. While some of the adults took care of the tire, the rest took us kids to a McDonald’s nearby. Faith and I decided to have a race and we raced to the McDonald’s to see who could get there first. Of
course, after the other kids saw what we were doing, they ran for McDonald’s too. And the race was on. Legs trembling and
breath rattling, we reached McDonald’s and we just laughed because no one knew who won. We ate McDonald’s and
played games until the car was fixed and then we continued on to Mexico.
The place where we stayed was right on the beach in Mexico. At night, when the tide was out, we would go out and collect sand crabs and seashells. Faith and I stayed together and every once in a while, she would turn to me with a big grin on her face saying excitedly, “I found one! I found one!” I would help her get them into a bucket and we would continue along the
beach until we had a bucket full of seashells and crabs. On some nights, when the sky was especially clear, Faith, Kady, Ryan and I would go down to the beach and would go stargazing. The sky was amazing and in those moments, we felt so small and were stunned by the beauty of it all.
.......
It really is crazy, how fast a life can change. In less than two months Faith went from walking all over St. Louis to barely even being able to walk to the bathroom without help. I love her so much. She is such a brave girl and I am so proud of her. I know that even though she has changed in so many ways, she is also the same girl I went crab-hunting with under the stars in Mexico. In these moments, I feel so small and yet I am stunned by the beauty of it all, and the strength that is family.
We have several friends going down during the break who have thoughtfully asked what they can bring back for us since we can't go. It's true that there are things in Rocky Point that we look forward to buying, but that's not the best part of the trip. It's the feel and smell of it and the little nuances and traditions we've picked up in the 7 or so years we've been going. Friday night, the night we usually would be packing up, we sat at dinner with the girls and reminisced about past. Kady's first favorite memory is the way her dad always drives around the round about several times just before we arrive at our resort, windows down, music blaring, celebratory soda in hand! They both like getting their hair braided and buying virgin strawberry daiquiris from the swim-up bar. Chandler likes how we always try to sneak into the resort next door and use their slide and how we would play Ping-Pong at The Reef and have lunch at Moonshots above the fish market (I think Faith has a crush on the bartender there!). We all will miss homemade happy hour on the beach at sunset, swimming in the ocean, and looking for dolphins and sand dollars. Last year, Faith found the biggest most perfect sand dollar I have ever seen. I swore that it must have been purchased at the gift shop, but she had her dad with her to attest to it's authenticity. To this day she beams with pride when she talks about it. I will miss the feeling of ease that comes over me when we open the condo door, see the ocean on the other side and breath in Mexico...the smell to me that is family, fun, and just ahhhh! all that we work so hard for during the rest of the year.
Several times Chandler's sister, Wendi, and her family would go with us. My 15 year old niece, Katherine, was recently assigned the task of writing her memoir. Her story was beautifully written and centered mostly around Faith's cancer. I selfishly never really considered how it was affecting the kids, any of the kids for that matter, other than my own, but it does affect them. It affects us all. Katherine's tale included some her memories of our trips to Mexico. I am going to close by including an excerpt from that. Thank you, Katherine for sharing it with me and allowing me to share it here! Thank you to Wendi and Dan for allowing your kids to skip school to come to Mexico and make memories with us!
We used to travel down to Rocky Point Mexico every year in October for a week. Faith and Kady would have school off but Ryan and I would skip school. We would fly out to Arizona and then drive the long drive down to Rocky Point. The cars would be loaded with food and supplies. There was barely enough room for us! Normally we would switch up the families that rode together. For example, instead of my mom, dad, Ryan and I riding together in the same car, My Uncle Chandler, my mom, Faith and I would ride down together. I remember Faith and I used to cram all of our Barbies into the car and we would play Barbies or watch Barbie movies the entire way down there.
One time on the road trip to Mexico, one of the cars got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. We put on the spare tire and stopped at the next stop to pay and get a new tire. While some of the adults took care of the tire, the rest took us kids to a McDonald’s nearby. Faith and I decided to have a race and we raced to the McDonald’s to see who could get there first. Of
course, after the other kids saw what we were doing, they ran for McDonald’s too. And the race was on. Legs trembling and
breath rattling, we reached McDonald’s and we just laughed because no one knew who won. We ate McDonald’s and
played games until the car was fixed and then we continued on to Mexico.
The place where we stayed was right on the beach in Mexico. At night, when the tide was out, we would go out and collect sand crabs and seashells. Faith and I stayed together and every once in a while, she would turn to me with a big grin on her face saying excitedly, “I found one! I found one!” I would help her get them into a bucket and we would continue along the
beach until we had a bucket full of seashells and crabs. On some nights, when the sky was especially clear, Faith, Kady, Ryan and I would go down to the beach and would go stargazing. The sky was amazing and in those moments, we felt so small and were stunned by the beauty of it all.
.......
It really is crazy, how fast a life can change. In less than two months Faith went from walking all over St. Louis to barely even being able to walk to the bathroom without help. I love her so much. She is such a brave girl and I am so proud of her. I know that even though she has changed in so many ways, she is also the same girl I went crab-hunting with under the stars in Mexico. In these moments, I feel so small and yet I am stunned by the beauty of it all, and the strength that is family.
Kady, Ryan, Katherine and Faith October 2009
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