Around my birthday, I decided to convince Matt to let me use his airline voucher to go home and surprise everyone. I knew he wouldn’t pull the trigger on one of the 12 places he wanted to go ( ie Minnesota and SD hunting, Alabama or North Carolina to visit a friend…) After some convincing and pleading I booked my trip home. It worked out that I only had to take one day vacation since Monday was a holiday and I worked the following Saturday for Tuesday off (a perk of my job).
I couldn’t tell you what perfect timing I had with my visit home. A week or 2 before my visit, my mom had a biopsy done on a suspicious area of her shoulder. The biopsy was sent to Stanford University. We then received some not so good news. Lymphoma of the bone. I felt like I had felt after Matt’s accident. I was a wreck. After settling down, and talking to a few close friends and family members I realized that I was afraid of the word cancer and all the stigmatism that went with it. And that’s all it is, a word. Cancer. It doesn’t mean I am going to lose my mom in a day, or that I’ll have to visit next week, or she’ll be sick and stuck in the house for days/months/years… My mom is so strong. She has a wonderful support system in my family and her friends and co-workers. (We later found out that this is both treatable but cureable)Knowing that I am so far away, it is so comforting to have so many people reach out and say they’ll help her and to let them know if they can do anything for my parents. Or even me. If I need to get back, they’ll get me back. I can’t imagine what she is going through, but can let her know I am here for her, anytime. :)
Anyways, here is how it went…
I couldn’t wait for the weekend I had in store. My mom, and a few other people knew, but I wanted to surprise my friends… Aren’t surprises fun? When I got home, I woke my dad up who was just so confused (We had planned a “pretend” trip so he would think I was coming home 2 weeks from the time I was actually home. ) He told me later he thought that it was a dream. I was also excited to see my niece Payton how was conveniently spending the night. I had a blast spending the morning with her just hanging out, trying on clothes and shoes and watching Elmos (aka Elmo). She had changed so much since October when I last saw her. I tried sending Blaine a picture of Payton from my phone. Who knew his screen was broken and was a little bothered I didn’t call him to tell him I was here. When I thought he was just ignoring my text!
I was able to surprise my girlfriends at Lindsay’s house. Amy had arranged for them to get together for pizza and conversation :) Little did they know, I was hiding in the bedroom. All their faces were priceless.. It’s too bad we couldn’t see each other longer. However it was soo good to see everyone.
Before we went to Lindsay’s, Amy took me to the new and improved Duluth Target ahaha. I got some goodies for my mom to make a little “care package” for her. While I can’t be there for her at her Chemotherapy, I could be there in spirit.. So hopefully she’s keeping warm with the blanket, busy with the puzzles and full with the candy :)
Sunday I went to lunch with my dad. We did this before when I came home alone. I think it would be a nice tradition. We had Payton on Sunday while Blaine and Kris went to a show. I was also able to see some friends again Sunday and Amy brought over Kayla who is a year older than Payton. They shared some french fries and tried playing together. They were so cute though.
Monday I was able to see baby Easton and Pam. It was so nice to catch up and relax while holding a cute little baby boy. I also drove past my old house in lakeside. Wow. The color of paint on the house is horrible. I can’t believe what they did to it. I would really like to see the inside of it someday. My dad redid and made some pretty nice kitchen cabinets back in the day.
I was also able to get onion rings and chicken wild rice soup from Grandma’s/Great American. It is always needed when I come home from anywhere. After lunch we took Payton around the mall. As much as I wanted and could buy something, I couldn’t find anything but one t shirt. But I did get Payton an Elmo.. While I was home, she would hop up on my dads chair and look at the computer and say elmos. That’s all she wanted was to la la la la…. Sooo cute.
When we got home, I made lasagna for everyone; Aunt, Grandma, Brother, Sister-in law, Unlce, mom, dad, niece, the whole kitten caboodle. It was delicious. I couldn’t help but tear up a little when saying good bye. It is always so hard to leave when you didn’t get to see someone as long as you wanted… hmmm guess that’s life.
Tuesday morning my dad was supposed to get me up to shower and take me to the airport and well.. we slept in. Good thing the airport is only 10 minutes away! I put my name on the list for a free voucher, but they didn’t need me, I was bummed..
But I am so so happy that I got to go home in January. Matt and I are coming back in April for a wedding, but don’t think I’ll make it up to Duluth for a long time.. Bums me out, but glad I got go home in January to see everyone.
Part 3 coming soon!
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