It takes a Village

I mean this in two ways.

One, University Village worked well yesterday. Mild weather, lots of people, and Meagan wandered to her heart's content. I camped out in a nice spot and read and every once in a while she would cruise by and say hi, or I'd see her in the distance. After an hour we talked by phone (you have to call twice - her phone is in her purse and by the time she realizes it is her phone ringing and gets it out, it has already gone to voice mail. So you just call again right away because at that point it's in her hand). She then called me at 2:30pm to say she was tired and ready to come home - and also to rant about how disgusted she was with the book selection at Barnes and Noble - too much popular fiction trash and not enough literature. She now only wants to go to Elliott Bay Books or Third Place Books. And as it turned out, separately we both had the identical thing for lunch  - I had walked over and gotten a frozen yogurt and later a cookie, and so had she. Funny how marriage does that to you...

The other reference to "it takes a Village" is to acknowledge the love and support from our extended network of friends and family. We simply could not do this journey without you. We are so appreciative of the meals provided three times a week through the sign ups at the Meagan's Fairy's website. It makes such a difference - for example last week, with the scan on Monday and the results on Wednesday, and Meagan being in shock Thursday to Saturday (no joke, I think it really was a form of shock) and me trying to support her - we were pretty incapable of pulling a meal together. So to have incredible food delivered is just so helpful. The only problem is our tupperware collection - it is out of control and we'd love for people to get theirs back!

Most of the time we welcome a knock and a short visit at delivery or pickup of dishware. But sometimes Meagan is wiped out and isn't up to a visit, so I'll let people know and keep it a front door exchange.

There are also all the other acts of kindness and support; the letters and cards, the walks, the invites to dinner, etc. There is a balance keeping the dance card full enough so she sees as many as she can (as she has indicated in her separate letters) and keeping her within the bounds of her capacities. That may change after Friday's Gamma knife treatment - hopefully not for long.

But truly, to our Village, a most heartfelt "thank you".