Today I'm grateful for...
Lulu getting closer to be finished with chemo treatment
Lourdes getting bigger and stronger daily
Eating healthier
Wonderful kids
Lulu and I just finished a conversation with George (he was here at the infusion center to support his stepson's chemo treatment), he is one of 19 children. He was a Hispanic looking 50 something friendly guy, that we easily struck up a conversation with (I only found out later that his ancestry was American Indian) We had a interesting talk about family and how he has 18 "best friends" to share his life with. Sometimes I think we as a society we look upon this many siblings as excessive or this mother couldn't have known about birth control, but I just learned that having a extended (and with this many kids, I mean extended) family can be more good then bad? George saw his brothers and sisters as a blessing, and spoke fondly of each of them. I learned that Manuel (second oldest, is inflicted with cancer and is battling to stay alive and doesn't have much time left), most of his family lives in the central valley of California, and most of the family started in the fields of strawberries as migrant workers. Just by George's recounting his youth (swimming in the irrigation canals, playing in the almond orchards, running away from the pesticide crop-dusters) I could feel the love for his family and the experiences they shared growing up. Families large or small, Hispanic or white, wealthy or poor aren't perfect. They are what we consciously make of them! If we feed the positives, we see and feel the relationship as warm and supportive. If we feed the negative, we start to see and feel the relationships as cold and we feel more withdrawn. No matter how simple this concept seems, I knew this meeting of George was meant to revive my sense of family! How do we see our relationships with siblings? What factors do we need to over come to straighten those bonds? I knew that Lulu was hearing the same message as I, because not long after our meeting with George were we talking about her sisters and how she loved their supporting during her treatment. I'm in tune with looking for these encounters as they attempt to tip toe through my life. I plan on grabbing a hold of as many of these character shaping phenomenons before they quietly try to escape!
I'm starting to understand that the time spent in the infusion center is more then just drugs been administered to cancer patients. The whole experience is a lot more then that. As I watched the nurses busily hustling around tending to their small flocks, I realized that Lulu was being healed by much more then cell altering substances infused into her body? She was being healed by forming close relationships and the companionship of survivors of some form of cancer. Someone you could share your experiences with and someone to tell your concerns to. The nurses most be hand selected to specially care for these cancer patients, they have the ability to be compassionate and very thorough with their care. I caught myself wondering how they recruit team players matching these values? Was there some secret? I just feel the healing of each patient that we share our experience with. I can better understand why Lulu was convinced that receiving her care here was best? I pray that she will be healed with the help of God, and the cancer center as his healing angels.
Lulu getting closer to be finished with chemo treatment
Lourdes getting bigger and stronger daily
Eating healthier
Wonderful kids
Lulu and I just finished a conversation with George (he was here at the infusion center to support his stepson's chemo treatment), he is one of 19 children. He was a Hispanic looking 50 something friendly guy, that we easily struck up a conversation with (I only found out later that his ancestry was American Indian) We had a interesting talk about family and how he has 18 "best friends" to share his life with. Sometimes I think we as a society we look upon this many siblings as excessive or this mother couldn't have known about birth control, but I just learned that having a extended (and with this many kids, I mean extended) family can be more good then bad? George saw his brothers and sisters as a blessing, and spoke fondly of each of them. I learned that Manuel (second oldest, is inflicted with cancer and is battling to stay alive and doesn't have much time left), most of his family lives in the central valley of California, and most of the family started in the fields of strawberries as migrant workers. Just by George's recounting his youth (swimming in the irrigation canals, playing in the almond orchards, running away from the pesticide crop-dusters) I could feel the love for his family and the experiences they shared growing up. Families large or small, Hispanic or white, wealthy or poor aren't perfect. They are what we consciously make of them! If we feed the positives, we see and feel the relationship as warm and supportive. If we feed the negative, we start to see and feel the relationships as cold and we feel more withdrawn. No matter how simple this concept seems, I knew this meeting of George was meant to revive my sense of family! How do we see our relationships with siblings? What factors do we need to over come to straighten those bonds? I knew that Lulu was hearing the same message as I, because not long after our meeting with George were we talking about her sisters and how she loved their supporting during her treatment. I'm in tune with looking for these encounters as they attempt to tip toe through my life. I plan on grabbing a hold of as many of these character shaping phenomenons before they quietly try to escape!
I'm starting to understand that the time spent in the infusion center is more then just drugs been administered to cancer patients. The whole experience is a lot more then that. As I watched the nurses busily hustling around tending to their small flocks, I realized that Lulu was being healed by much more then cell altering substances infused into her body? She was being healed by forming close relationships and the companionship of survivors of some form of cancer. Someone you could share your experiences with and someone to tell your concerns to. The nurses most be hand selected to specially care for these cancer patients, they have the ability to be compassionate and very thorough with their care. I caught myself wondering how they recruit team players matching these values? Was there some secret? I just feel the healing of each patient that we share our experience with. I can better understand why Lulu was convinced that receiving her care here was best? I pray that she will be healed with the help of God, and the cancer center as his healing angels.
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