Wednesday, September 9, 2009 11:40 p.m.
Dear Friends,
Well, I can’t sleep so I guess I’ll try to drain my mind of any extraneous thoughts.
Shayley seems to be doing well, at least on the outside, after the loss of Private. According to her blog update last night, though, she’s still upset inside (and takes it out on the rest of us.) She is especially sensitive to the mention of cats or the word “private” even if the kitten is not the subject. She and Charlie watched America’s Funniest Videos tonight and howled with laughter as usual, while I stayed cloistered in the extra bedroom away from the tv’s screams. It is good for them to laugh and I’m glad that enjoy it, though I do regret sometimes that all of Shayley’s favorite shows seem to involve a lot of screaming, which I have little to no tolerance for most nights. I guess Shayley gets her general sensitivity to words honestly. Twice in the past two days apparently-healthy visitors at our office have made conversational jokes about “surviving” and “staying above ground” and those sorts of things. I wish I weren’t such a sensitive person, and I try to laugh my way through it with everyone, but it is hard to take jokes about the balance between life and death when death’s General, cancer, has come into your body or your life. I realize that it must seem like I dwell on this too much, but it is difficult to escape—physically and mentally. This was brought home again with the death of someone I knew through work who died just recently, just 2 or 3 weeks after learning that he had cancer.
I continue to pray for everyone in this battle and for all of those who have lost loved ones, and I thank all of you for your prayers for us. Please continue praying. Love, Lydeana
