My best day ever!

What a great day Wednesday was. I pushed it, but it was worth it. I spent most of the day with Laura as we first went to my Radiation Graduation, yes, they even gave me a certificate of completion for my radiation treatments. I have to say that the folks at the clinic are some of the most compassionate and caring people I have ever experienced in the medical field. Now I wait for my third round of chemo on January 7. Okay, so then Laura and I went to lunch because I wanted to celebrate. White Castles was discussed but my more intelligent daughter re-directed that choice. Then we went and did a little shopping. After a good rest we all went to the WWHS Holiday Concert. As usual, it was a fantastic concert that I would have hated to miss. It always ends with alumni joining the choral groups and orchestra to sing the Alleluia Chorus. Laura and my favorite "T-Bones", who actually remembered how to play once they got the dust off their horns, all joined in. A treat for Cindy and I for sure.
Another terrific part of the day took place in the waiting room of the radiation clinic. It won't make much sense if I don't tell the story first. And you know how much I like to tell stories. A while back, Cindy was on line researching Esophegeal Cancer and found a wonderful support group web site. It was a national group of folks that either had the disease or were care givers. You simply signed on, provided limited details and could get tons of good nformation or even post questions. Cindy received a warm letter of welcome from the moderator and was encouraged to post more details and join the group. She did just that and a few days later after posting a few basic questions, revceived a beautiful email from a lady who's husband had very similar circumstances as me. Cindy was surprised at the similarity of our situations and wrote back right away. She didn't notice a return email for a few days but then noticed the woman had responded again. Cindy then shared a few more specific details such as living in Cincinnati. Well, the woman wrote back and was quite taken by the fact that they lived in Loveland. Cindy, of course, wrote back in glee and shared more specifics until we found out that he and I shared the same radiation clinic and doctor. At that point the story ends with us hoping that some day we would be able to meet them and share our experiences. Well now to the clinic waiting room yesterday. My radiation treatments were always in the morning at the same time but that day I had to change my time to the afternoon. As Laura and I are sitting there, I hear a couple talking to another lady about Esophegeal cancer and I of course just change seats and jump into the conversation since I have become so hungry for information lately. I mention to them that I too have the same condition. The woman looks at me and sees my WWHS shirt and with an amazed look on her face says, "If you tell me your name is Mike, I am going to faint". I immediately remembered Cindy's on line friend and looked at him and said, "No way, you can't be Burt?" Can you believe just how tiny our world is. It turns out it was his last day for radiation as well and our only opportunity that we would ever meet "by chance". We were all amazed and enjoyed chatting for a while as we created a new friendship from this incredible set of "small world" circumstances. Just amazing!
The best part of the day was after the concert, seeing so many young faces of kids I have not seen for a while and the warm embraces of friends that I miss. It made me realize just how much I miss that school community. What a treat to get out and enjoy them all. You are all loved, may God bless you all!