The Week that Was

It's been a busy week. Last Saturday, we loaded the UHaul - twice, as it turned out - and moved to the new studio. It looked like a cyclone had hit! But the DH and I spent Sunday getting the reception area cleared out and setting up the computers, so when Tuesday came and we opened, we looked ready. We replaced most of the images on the walls with our own, and they looked wonderful under the new lighting. We could never have done it without the help of family and friends/employees, and we are deeply grateful. One guy, Silent Steve, we'd never even met before, but he came along in the wake of our daughter and SIL.


After our first week, we're already feeling very at-home in the studio. We're reaching for light switches on the right side of the door, and remembering to turn off the copier before we leave. We don't have Karate Kids yelping next door, and the DH is still drooling over his camera room. It has come together so well that we both have the feeling it was meant to be.


So Monday, we needed a break, and had promised to take our adorable and bright grandson, Cameron, to see Horton Hears a Who. I loved the story as a kid, and am a fan of the cast, so I felt sure I'd have a good time. But the fun wasn't the the movie, but Camo. As soon as we got him in the handoff from his mom at noon, and started down the road, he informed us he was hungry. There wasn't time before the show to get a meal, so I told him we'd have popcorn at the movie. I was sternly informed that, "Popcorn is a snack, not a meal. Chicken nuggets and fry-fries are a meal." I, ladies and gentlemen, had been TOLD. However, Camo did manage to deal with the popcorn he was purchased by his Poppa. Sorry for the lousy quality; cell phones are NOT what we usually work with for portraiture. Anyway, after the show, he got his definition of a meal. :-)


I have found in life that for every yin there is a yang. There is balance in the universe, however we humans try to screw with that. So for all this good news, there is a counterweight.


Last year, my father-in-law, Bill, was diagnosed with a very rare, extremely aggressive form of skin cancer called Merkel Cell. He underwent chemo, and all the scans showed that against all odds, he'd won his fight. Even the areas where it had spread were gone. We all drew a breath of relief. But a follow-on scan saw something in his colon which further investigation proved to be a cancerous polyp. Surgery was planned.


We got a call midweek from the DH's older brother. He told us Bill had been taken to the ER, very disoriented. At first it was thought that it was a glitch with his Parkinson's meds, but it turned out to be much worse. A CT scan showed four discrete lesions on his brain. He's having trouble feeding himself, and controlling other functions as well. It has to be hell on a man I've always seen as so dignified.


Radiation is planned. I assume the colon surgery is on hold, but we haven't heard yet. I'd like to ask for your prayers for the man who raised my wonderful husband, and inspired him to become a photographer. Prayers for his wife of 51 years, who has loved this man since she was 11. And for their four children, because I don't think any of us are grown up when it comes to facing the loss of a parent.