Weekend love

I got to visit with Lans and Ben on Friday night. And I got to deliver the special socks from Tiffy too! Lans got a kick out of them.. . even did a little posing! Another good pick Tiffy!! I'll deliver it's matching counter part soon as it arrived yesterday.

When we were there Ben said, "I don't know what it is about being with Lana. . All day long my heart beats 100 miles a minute worrying about this sickness and the future. Just being next to her my heart rate drops to half that and I just feel so at peace. I can remember in medical school when I was studying so much and even though she was in the other room I just felt good. She would leave and I would be so lonely."

Watching my sis-in-law in pain has probably been one of the most challenging experiences of my life. I can only imagine what my brother is feeling. He calls her "Blumbly." We have all felt from the first time we met her that he found his perfect match. She speaks in movie lines. She is positive. She works so hard and she just loves him so perfectly.

Her best friend Shyla has been with her all weekend. I hear they are having the best time ever!! Lans said before she came, "I'm so excited to see her, but couldn't help but get a little teary thinking it is going to be like the movie Beeches." "Lans, it's not Beeches you doof!! She wanted to see her best friend and had a small window before school started!" She replied to my insult, "I know, I just saw her two years ago and we were so optimistic about life and our future and now I've got cancer and am walking around with a walker. . . it's just hard not to think how did this happen?"

Cancer sucks and we have all been wondering "why." Thankfully we have also been blessed with a lot of "How" can we help? and "What" can we do's? It's been challenging and yet breathtaking to see two families drop what they are doing and come together to get our girl better and to take care of two gorgeous little boy angels and our brother and son.

So often in life we are faced with trials . . . trials like this that are in no way a result of our actions or choices . . . and yet they hit us like a brick wall. And we are faced with choices. Do we choose anger or love? Do we choose to withdraw or to reach out? Do use this an excuse to give up or a reason to try harder? We choose love. We choose to reach out. We choose to stretch ourselves further than we imagined and try harder.