Those Days

January 3, 2013

Yesterday was Steve’s and my 31st wedding anniversary. 

Although January 2 has been special in our lives for a long time, ten years ago that date came to have an added meaning in our lives because it was the day that Sarah was admitted to the bone marrow transplant floor of Duke University Hospital.  (She was there almost a month.)
The day of her actual transplant was January 10 so that’s when we’ll celebrate her Official Ten Year Transplant Anniversary; however, the day she was admitted sticks out in my memory almost as much as the transplant itself.  As we approach her anniversary date, I’m spending some time revisiting old memories, stories, and pictures.  I’d like to share some snippets from that chapter of our lives with you because I never, ever want to forget the struggles, the joys, the challenges, the tears, the giggles, the heartache, or the miracles of those days.

(These were all written in 2003 and 2004)

Snippet One:

“I’ve never said this before, but I can’t wait to die.”

After Sarah dropped that bombshell on us in the middle of lunch today, I asked her as casually as I could, “Why would you say that, Sarah?”

She replied serenely, “Well, in Children’s Church this morning we talked about dying and we learned that you don’t have to be afraid to die because you just move to another place; you just move to heaven. And I wouldn’t mind moving to heaven.”

I said, “Sarah, I hope you’re not planning to move to heaven for a long, long time.”

She looked back at me and replied very seriously, “Well, I’m not in charge of that, you know.”

And back to her pizza she went, just as matter-of-fact as you please.

 

Snippet Two:

I just never know quite what conversational track Sarah will lead me down. Yesterday we were doing some errands when she piped up from the back seat, “I don’t always understand why God let me get cancer. Do you think I’ll ever understand?”

Up until that moment, my brain had been awash in random ramblings–what I was going to make for supper, how hot it was outside, how slow the traffic was going, and how soon I should schedule my next hair cut. I immediately called to a halt to all the miscellany in my mind and marshaled my powers of concentration for the important conversation at hand.

As Sarah continued to talk, she seemed very fragile emotionally; I could hear tears in her voice as she wrestled with a subject she hadn’t brought up in a long time. “Mom, what is the purpose of my cancer? What good has come out of it?”

I paused for a moment to think of things that would be meaningful to her and hopefully not sound trite or silly. The first thing that came to mind was to remind her of how many parents have told us that reading her story on her web page has helped them to be better parents; it has helped them to be more patient and loving toward their children.

I was about to go on to some other things when she said, “Wait a minute, Mom.  Hold it right there. That’s good enough for me. I hate it when parents aren’t nice to their children and if my being sick has helped a parent treat their child nicer, than that makes me happy.”

And that was that. She’d been reminded again that her pain had purpose and that was good enough for her!

 

Snippet Three:

This past May (2003) , Steve, Sarah and I were at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Clinic in NYC for some tests and scans; Sarah and I were sitting in the lobby waiting for Steve to finish some paperwork upstairs.

As we sat and chatted, two ladies who were mother/daughter age came and sat near us.  Both of them were hatless and both were bald, with just a little bit of fuzz showing. They looked so much alike I just knew they had to be related but then I thought, “What are the chances of them having cancer at the same time?”

However, since I knew it certainly wouldn’t be polite to say, “Do you both have cancer?” I just smiled and greeted them and then turned back to my conversation with Sarah.

However, Princess Groovy Chick was not about to let this opportunity pass her by and she was also not about to stand on ceremony. She leaned right past me and said, “So! Has your hair been pretty itchy while it’s been growing out? Mine has!” (The cancer connection strikes again!)

Both ladies started grinning from ear to ear as this nearly bald, cute, chipper child engaged them in conversation. It was probably a relief to them to have their situation so charmingly brought out into the open.

As they introduced themselves to Sarah and me, we found out that they were indeed mother and daughter—while the daughter was the one with the cancer, they were both bald because the Mom had shaved her head as soon as her daughter lost her hair. As you can well imagine, that story brought tears to my eyes.

For the next ten minutes, I just sat back and let Sarah carry the conversation—for once, I was the odd man out which was a good change for Sarah. Just about everywhere she went during her treatment, SHE was the one who was different but in that particular setting, she was part of the gang and I was the oddball because I was the only one with hair!

They chatted casually about treatment, chemo, baldness, and nausea; in ten minutes they went from being almost bald strangers to almost bald friends! It’s amazing to be in the middle of a huge city like New York and yet have such immediate rapport with strangers, simply because we’ve all walked the same road.

Meeting so many wonderful people whom we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to know has turned out to be a great blessing of cancer. There is such a sense of community among families who have been touched by illness—economic, social, religious, and educational differences all fade into non-importance under the umbrella of this disease.

More snippets to come . . .

 

I’ll close with a few pictures from that period of time.

Hanging out with Snowy just a couple days before her transplant.

1-sarah's 13th 006

Leaving the transplant unit.

2-Janaury 2008 3-Slide19

What a difference a few years make!  (Picture on the left is during transplant.)

4-Slide23

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20 comments so far.

20 responses to “Those Days”

  1. Pilotbutterfly (Ann Martin) says:

    I remember meeting the Smiths that spring when Sarah was at Duke. I started following the website in January 2003 after the transplant. Seems as if I’ve known you for a lifetime. God is good and I treasure the Smith Family friendship.

  2. robin says:

    It’s great that Sarah continues to do well and I wish her nothing but the best. I love the tribute to Snowy as well (that entry wouldn’t let me comment). Have a great 2013.

    • Becky says:

      Robin, Thanks so much for your happy wishes for Sarah and for your comment on the Snowy post. (I finally got the commenting issue figured out for that post.) Glad you stopped by!

  3. Dale Tousley says:

    Becky, Once again, you have brought tears to my eyes, this time, happy tears, I really am not looking forward to 2013 for many reason but this warms my heart.

    • Becky says:

      Dale, I’m sorry to hear that you have a difficult year ahead of you but so glad to know that Sarah’s story has brought some brightness into your life.

  4. sharyn McDonald says:

    Some pleasant memories, and some not so pleasant, but through it all the Lord has been with you.

  5. Anonymous says:

    I loved this post for all the pbvious reasons….just as I love all of the Smith
    family…..from fran in Texas….

  6. Lisa from Georgia says:

    Happy Anniversary to Sarah and you and Steve!! Ten years out with Neuroblastoma IS miraculous. Sarah may very well be a first! I praise God today for your Sarah’s victory and look forward to the reunion I will have with my Sarah in heaven. Thank you for being an in inspiration, as always.

  7. Michele from Ny says:

    wow! what a true miracle Sarah really is….

  8. LizziLou says:

    Happy anniversary to you and Steve! Hope it was wonderful. 🙂

    And how exciting to be celebrating Sarah’s 10th transplant anniversary!!!! I know every year is a milestone…..and every minute a blessing. Sarah’s journey never ceases to amaze me. She is quite the inspiration! I know you are one proud mama. 🙂

    ~Michelle

  9. Michelle says:

    Happy 31st Anniversary!!

  10. Mary H says:

    This story of Sarah is what I needed to remember as I look towards 2013. You know my heart about those days and how they have changed me. Thank you so much for sharing. The last two pictures are the divine definition of “Miracle” – Thank you dear Lord and Savior. Oh, and Happy Anniversary to you and Steve. I have learned much about marriage, love, respect and devotion from both of you. So good to see a little bit of Snowy, also.

    • Becky says:

      Mary, I am both humbled and honored that you would feel like you have learned some good things about marriage from Steve’s and my relationship. Thank you for sharing those words.

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