Hi Everyone,
I have had a really wonderful 2 weeks bathing in the after-glow of Molly and Charlotte’s visit. Normalcy is something I have taken for granted in the past and now it’s something I cherish. I long for normalcy and these last two weeks weeks were such a gift as I had a break from the reality of my situation and all the light and love came shining through.
I had an amazing surprise too this past week which added immensely to my joy factor. At around 2:45 in the afternoon this past Thursday my doorbell rang and to my total shock stood two of my high school friends, Brian and Sean. Seriously? As if that wasn’t surprise enough two more friends arrived that night, Neil and Brendan. What?!! I am so truly touched that these for boys, (ok, men) would coordinate their schedules and pull off this surprise just to check in and brighten my world. I hope you guys know how much I loved every minute with you and how amazingly special you made me feel. I still can’t get over that you all came to Austin together but I am so happy that you did. Thank you for loving on me so sweetly, I love you all.
The next two days are going to be nerve wracking as I head to MD Anderson for scans. I won’t lie, my knees are knocking. My scan is at 5:00 pm Central time today so if you are wanting to send out prayers, light, love, good ju-ju then please send it around then as I will need all your positive energy! I will meet with Dr. Javle on Thursday morning to go over the results at 10:30.
On a nostalgic note I was driving in my car yesterday and the song Night Moves by Bob Seger came on. For those of you who know the Stanley family, you know Night Moves is their family anthem. Hearing that song yesterday reminded me of the Christmas dance parties at the Stanley house with Mr. Stanley and Zan dancing together and this song coming on and knowing it had special meaning. It also reminded me of our group of friends, Neil, Brendan, Sean and Brian being part of that group – and how many good times we have had together over the years and how very blessed I am to have such close ties to all these people I love.
I’ll leave you a story about the universe. Before Christmas this past year, my parents, my sister’s family and my family sponsored a family in need through Foundation Communities here in Austin. We were given a family with a single mother and two children ages 19 and early 20’s. The families in need were asked to provide a short list of some of the items they would like to receive as gifts and we dropped them off to Foundation Communities and they wrapped them and delivered them. We had committed to this before my diagnosis. One of the things our assigned family asked for was to help towards an electricity bill, with a balance of $1000. The mother was making monthly payments. Our three families together purchased a few gift cards for the mother and her children that they had requested, then Charles and I decided we wanted to share and pay forward the generosity that we had received through so many of you, and decided to pay off her entire balance directly to the electric company.
I wrote a note to the mother and told her of my diagnosis, of the generosity of those that love me and my family, of all the support I have and that I know things can seem tough but I hoped she would cherish her health, her family and the simple things in life. I told her I wanted to pay forward the kindness that we had experienced through our trials and share that with her by paying off her electricity bill balance. Yesterday I received a thank you note from her which was 2 pages back to front long. She told me she had been struggling with her faith, worrying about her family, feeling she didn’t have enough. She said sometimes she forgets that it just takes asking for help and being able to receive. She wrote that our generosity was a reminder to keep her faith. She thanked my whole family and thanked me for my generous spirit despite going through a difficult time. She told me I am in her thoughts and prayers and then she enclosed a gift to “keep your spirits high” She made me a medicine bag, with hands on the bottom to offer support and keep me protected during this time. Inside the bag is a piece of rose quartz – the stone of love. The note, the gifts, and most of all her spirit was so kind, generous and loving, I had tears streaming down my face as I read her note, To me, this is the Universe at work. The arrival of her heartfelt note, so eloquently written along with her gifts arrives the day before I head to Houston. When I am so shaky this blessing comes along out of the blue. Pretty amazing.
Love, love, love is all around me – hold me dear friends over the next two days, lend me your strength.
xoxo Hilary
Neil, Hilary, Brendan, Sean, Brian
Walking with the boys
“Benny and the Jets”
The gifts
