Holly and I just returned from a w-e in Charleston SC showing her Dad, the history buff, around the old revolutionary and civil war sites. He made a list of the things he wanted to see and managed to get to many of them. It's pretty cool to see your old hometown through someone else's eyes and enjoy the wealth of history and sightseeing that comes with being a visitor. Holly rented a condo in a great central location West of the Ashley River, which was convenient to all the different spots we visited. The condo complex was located on a piece of land that used to be my Mom's old housing project. She lived there when she was in high school and used to take me to stay with my grandmother who continued to live there after I was born. I have seen photos of the housing complex in the early 1960's and believe me, the condos are much more upscale. Oddly enough, we were also just around the corner from the house where we lived the first time Dad served in Vietnam. Each morning, Holly and I ran along a greenway trail that crossed the street near the old house. In addition, my aunt Mary Alice and her family lived just across the street in a similar house. I took some photos of the two old homes to commemorate where I played outside with friends and skated at Christmas in my Indian outfit. Somewhere I have photos in my army fatigues posing on the front lawn with Beth and Becky in their matching twin dresses. You'd never guess at all the history in those homes if you drove by, barely registering the low, simple ranches with their dirt driveways and chain link fences.
When we returned from Charleston today, there was a phone message from Tanya ("this is Tanya from Duke") about my most recent bone marrow biopsy. The results were all normal fortunately. Lest you think it's easy to wait a week each time for those results, let me disabuse you of that notion. Something about having cancer and treatment and cancer and treatment and now big needle pokes every 3 months that reminds me of where I've been and where I could end up again. I don't know if I'll ever get more relaxed about the whole biopsy process. I mean, really, what greater reminder can you have that you have/had a life threatening illness than the death scare that just can't be swept cleanly away. I do manage to put it all out of my mind once the soreness from the big needle receeds (and the news is good, obviously). I'll be there in a week or so, when my biggest preoccupation again will be work, until the next time (cancer, what cancer?). I hate to belabor the point, but I just don't think anyone who hasn't been through it can imagine how nerve wracking and potentially upsetting it is to wait on those results. Thank goodness I have another clean bill of health, and I can move on again for the next 3 months.
Today's photos: the West Oak Forest homes looking nicer than I remember them from 1968
No comments:
Post a Comment