Two weekends ago, we got together to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday. From looking at her, it’s hard to believe 1.) that she turned seventy, and 2.) that she was just over a month post surgery. While it’s been a rocky few months for her since her cancer diagnosis in July, she has been such an inspiration to our whole family in the way that she relied on her faith in the Lord to sustain her, continued to devote herself to family, and battled through a tough surgery and recovery to be where she is. We all just really felt like this birthday was more than a birthday. It was a gift to all of us to see her recovering, enjoying her family being together, getting healthier and stronger every day, and looking forward to all that life has ahead for her. It’s so easy to take our family and our loves ones for granted until a health scare comes along and really shakes you to the core. However, we’re so thankful that God put her in the hands of the specialists at University of Maryland who were incredibly brilliant, capable, and thorough in their treatment of her cancer, and we’re thankful that He enabled her the strength to get through her surgery, the chemo wash, and be doing so well on her road to recovery. It truely was a great day to celebrate.
While we were there to celebrate my mom, it doesn’t go without mention that she wouldn’t have been there without my dad. Since her diagnosis, he has been there through thick and thin and walked with her along the darkest of paths when things seemed really bad. He was there to support her, encourage her, be her friend and protector, and he cared for all her needs with the deepest of affection and dedication. It was a blessing to watch his love for her manifest itself in such real and tangible ways, and we are so thankful to have the dad that we do to care for our mom. We really are so fortunate to have so much love in our family.
On a side note, we got a sneak preview of Emme’s Halloween costume when she had to leave at the end of the party to go to her cross country team’s Halloween party. We all loved Miss Mantis!!! For being a carniverous insect who eats her mates, Miss Mantis was quite agreeable to a photo shoot. But, I was sure to not provoke her! :)
It was such a wonderful day, I am very blessed to have such a supportive loving family that showed their love in many ways through these last few months.
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