Parents

We got a lovely email from Derick's aunt today. His dad is in the hospital. He went in for another round of Chemo on Thursday, but they decided to keep him. He had something done with his bone marrow, and they are doing many CAT scans. They think his lymph nodes are getting more swollen or something. So his aunt suggested that we visit sooner than later.

Derick's afraid to call. I think that he's afraid to hear the prognosis. So I emailed his aunt back and asked myself. I don't blame him. No one wants to loose their parent, but there comes a point when you have to grow up and accept things the way they are. I hope that he's able to do that. I don't want to scare him, but I know that if it's in his lymph nodes it's not a good thing. I don't know much about Leukemia, but I have certainly dealt with my share of cancer.

In her email, she said, "I'm so glad Becky contacted us. We didn't forget about you. We could never forget about you." She also said, "Becky seems like such a nice person." To which Derick responded, "Obviously she doesn't know you well." She loved the pictures of Lily. Hopefully they will brighten up his day a little bit too. She said that Derick looked so happy, and they were so glad...that's all they ever wanted for him.

We can't make the trip in December to visit them. But my brother offered us tickets on the airline that he works for. Hopefully we'll be able to make it in January or February. I have time in March, but I'm afraid that might be to late. I don't want to visit if he's not feeling up to it. She offered up her bed and said that she can stay with her daughter. She has her grandaughter's crib for Lily, and some toys for her to play with. It seems like a nice trip. I hope we can make it.

I also inquired about his brothers and sister. I told her that I had hoped he could get in touch with them, if not for him but for Lily. They are her aunts and uncles and cousins. She should know them...and not at her grandfather's funeral.

I was afraid this would be a disaster, but it's turned out better than I thought.