The Cabbage Patch

Treatments Start Soon

Today I have my oncology appointment where I will finally find out my chemo schedule.  I still have a heart stress test so I'm hoping I won't start until next week.  I really could use one more week of nothing.

Yesterday, I took my girls and their best friends to Austin for a tour of some of the iconic graffiti spots.  Originally, I had planned to take more than the six pictured here but the cancer diagnosis sped up the timeline.  I wanted to do the trip more than anything so I decided to just take six.

I hope that when I'm healthier I can take more of their friends like I had originally planned.  I would even have rented a 12 passenger van so we could all go.

We had a fun time and as always I was able to push aside the cancer from my brain for about 8 hours.  These children give me such joy.  

I know the road ahead will not be easy.  It will actually be very difficult, but with the love of my friends and family and most especially these teens, I know I will kick cancer's ass.

I love them.

Starting Over

It started as something small but has built up some steam and now there's a series of photos.  My girls met some other teens and we have been having a grand time taking photos for what we call Gage's Gang.  This project has me going out and doing more than I have in the past 18 months.  I didn't realize how much my friend's death had affected me.

My girls were affected as well.  The past year has been horrible but we've recovered.  We lost about 80% of our friends for various reasons.  Some because we all disagreed about things and others because they couldn't handle us in our grief.  Some of these people had been friends of ours for over 10 years.  It's been a hard road.

The summer started us on the path to recovery from the grief and all it's rippling effects but it wasn't until this January that the real healing started, at least for me.  

At the beginning of the new school year in 2015, we met a wonderful young lady who had moved in from North Carolina (sometimes you have to love the Army).  She became incredibly close to both my older two girls.  Without her love and friendship, my girls wouldn't have survived as well as they did.  Through her we met a fantastic group of youth.  I haven't laughed as much as I have since the start of 2017.  

The coming summer is going to be filled with grand ballet adventures in New York City, but in the meantime, we plan on taking this group of teens (minus the kid squatting in the ball cap) around Texas to take photos.  We call this Gage's Gang.  

The love these guys have for each other and me have been my healing balm.

 

"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." ~ Hubert H. Humphrey

Autism Awareness ~ The Face of Autism

My Sweet Ballerina

Pumpkin

For Emily

I took pictures of her daughter on her First Holy Communion.  I'm having trouble sending it to her via email so I'm posting so she can have a glimpse.  

 

 

 

These are completely undoctored as I couldn't find the one I had edited.
 
 
 

More Nutcracker Pictures

My brother attended the Saturday showing of the Nutcracker in Temple.  Of course, as a photographer, he couldn't help but take pictures of his nieces.  His pictures are way better than mine.  In the process, he took pictures of the whole ballet.  They're gorgeous!  Take a look.

Photo of the Photographer

My dear friend took this picture.  This is why there are hardly any pictures of me.

Wordless Wednesday

Prayer Request Update

Emily had not so great news yesterday from the cardiologists.  We are still praying for a miracle. 

Honey had her appointment today.  It was kind of a clerical error but I'm glad we went.  At her last appointment, the EKG machine was not functioning; today it was.  All is the same.

My dad came out of his surgery very well.  He was a bit groggy but he seems better today.

Here's a picture I'm sharing with you.  It's a dahlia from my mother's garden.  She has beautiful flowers.