Post Number Fourteen

One Wedding and A Surgery

On October 11 our daughter, Mary, will wed Andrew Highland at the United Methodist Church of the Deaf in Baltimore, MD.  On October 15, just four days later, Terry will undergo surgery to remove the tumor that was discovered last July.  Ever since the discovery of that tumor we have measured each medical decision and schedule by the need to travel to Baltimore for the wedding. Would Terry be recovered sufficiently from the radiation treatments to travel? Can the required surgery be delayed safely until after the wedding?  At the present time it appears that the answer to both of those questions is, "Yes."  I regard this as one of the hidden blessings of our present situation.

Terry and I intend to throw ourselves completely into the joy of the wedding celebration.  This is an exercise in healthy denial.  By that I mean that we intend to deny this cancer's efforts to steal this joyful moment from us.  We shall not go to Baltimore and pretend that this cancer reality does not exist.  That would be an unhealthy denial.  We shall go to Baltimore and be joyful in spite of the cancer.  This is possible because as unwelcome as this cancer reality is, it does not own us nor does it define who we are.