These past 10 days have been some of the happiest days of my life since my cancer diagnosis on March 11.
We have celebrated three family milestones in 10 days, all of them revolving around our kids, their partners, and their futures. Slowly, but surely they are using their wings and are flying nicely on their own as fully-grown adults.
The celebrations started on June 6th with our daughter Marissa’s wedding shower. The weather co-operated and gave her sunshine to add to the warmth of the celebration. It was a joy to see her so happy by being in the presence of women who have shaped her life, watched her grow, and came to share in well-wishes for her upcoming marriage.
At one point she leaned over to me at and smiled saying “Mom, can you believe this? All of these women are here for me and I know each and every one of them by name. This is so amazing. The wedding’s going to be like this too, but there will also be the men who have been special to me too.”
It truly was a memorable mother and daughter milestone. Memories were made amid laughter and tears. My daughter is all grown up and will be leaving home in a few short weeks to become a wife. The time has passed so quickly…
The shower wouldn’t have come together without the generous hearts and rolled-up sleeves of family and friends who made it happen. I am grateful for their love, support, and physical work to create the shower as my health prevented me from being as actively involved as I would have liked to be.
Last Thursday was another milestone moment for Marissa and our family. She convocated from the University of Winnipeg and received her 4-year Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications and Interdisciplinary Linguistics at the University of Winnipeg.
The event marked the end of 21 years of educating two children and preparing them for the “adult world” of work and independence. Marissa’s landed a great first professional position working as an admin assistant to a Dean at her alma mater.
Last night our son Josh and daughter-in-law Jill called and proudly proclaimed that they won a house bidding war and are owners of their first home. It was the 44th house they saw in person in addition to over 200 they had researched on local real estate websites and agent listings.
It is has been fun to share in the excitement of their pursuit to buy a home. I will miss the many eager phone calls and visits about house viewings, the ups and downs of looking at junky houses vs. good ones, and the merits of house styles, neighborhoods, and interesting features with each home viewed.
Most of all, it has been rewarding to watch them evolve with each experience into savvy real estate consumers. They became quite adept at sourcing good houses from bad ones, and estimate that they saw about eight bad houses for every good one.
Interestingly, both kids and their partners have chosen River Heights as their neighborhoods. They can walk to one another’s places in under 10 minutes. It’ll be a bit of a commute from where they grew up in the Kildonans but convenient for where they need to commute for work and school.
Life’s comings and goings with two sets of adult children and partners has been a good distraction in living with cancer. Tomorrow, the reality of cancer treatments and their schedules enters my world. There will be anxious and frustrating moments. Holding on to these 10 days of happy moments will give me comfort.
Today, I celebrate the fullness of life and the rewards of parenting well. I hope to get well to continue to celebrate many other milestones in my life. I continue my fight against cancer with Strength, Courage, and Determination.