A Pink Party

Survivor. It's a strong word, meaning "one who endures through disaster or hardship" (Wiktionary). Hardship. Is that what they call it? I call it the-crazy-roller-coaster-no-one-tells-you-about-or-prepares-you-for-because-there-is-no-way-to-describe-it. Hardship puts it mildly. But that's not what this is about. It's about the survivor part. It is about the 5-YEAR survivor part. Yes, 5 YEARS!! Goodbye breast cancer, hello survivor. Survivor is my MOM.

Do you know my mom? If you don't, here are a few words to describe her:
Mom, Mamma, Wife, Friend, Horsey, Teacher, Listener, Shopper, Confidant, Survivor. She loves her family to pieces, especially her 2 grand kids, her husband, her son-in-law, and me. She listens, laughs and cares so much for her friends; her friends who supported her through the good and the bad times, and are still here for more of the good times. That's just a bit about my mom. The survivor.

I decided it was fitting to have a party. You see my mom isn't one who likes to have people fuss over her. She doesn't like to be the center of attention, but let's face it, sometimes it's good to be the center of attention. So we decided to make it a surprise. There was one other time J and I pulled off a surprise and it was for their (my parents') 50th birthday. Now, put that count to 2, because she was completely surprised!

This started off as a Pink Party like we used to have. When Mom was going through chemo 2 other couples along with J and I would rotate houses every 3 weeks and have Pink Parties. They consisted of dinner, dessert and lots of laughing and fun. These were the days and nights that were supposed to be her "best" ones because it was right before she went in for chemo, usually the next day. Anyway, this surprise party was going to be just the 8 of us, like before, and then I thought, "Forget that! We're going all out!" And we did.

Thanks to lots of help we had cookies with her picture on them

along with other fabulous desserts (Thanks, John and Lynda!), along with more food throughout our house than we could have imagined. Our house was also filled with people.

Cruise and Neighborhood Friends

Lunch Friends

and Family...One (of two) Sisters

and Sister-in-Law, Brother-in-Law and Niece

who came to support her like they always had before. It was a sign of true support to have everyone there. I loved it. She loved it. It was better than we could have ever imagined it to be. Surviving is better than we could ever have imagined it to be.

I have one last thing I'd like to share...it is some writing I did this summer as a part of a writing group through the U of M. I wrote about my mom. I hadn't ever had time to process what happened with her being sick because (luckily!) J and I got pregnant with A & C towards the end of her treatment. You see, it's not about my plan, contrary to my belief. It is about His plan, and we found that out through this road. So here is some of my writing-just a small part I'm willing to share-about my mom and this "season" we made it through:

"We did it! You did it! Surgery, check. Chemo, check, Radiation, check. We made it through. How did we do it? Support, that’s how. Support from everyone, no matter who they were. People who supported us just because. Just because…Meals brought and visitors came. How did we do it? Prayer, that’s how. Prayers said. Again and again and again.

So here we are, December 2005 and we say, “See ya cancer!” No turning back. No going back. No more doctors. No more any of that.

Moving ahead to grandbabies, cruising and life. I love you, Mom."