Mom‘s port was placed on Monday, May 17, 2021. She had two days to have fun before having poison infused throughout her body to hopefully kill the bad stuff and not all the good stuff.
Tuesday night she was able to go to dinner with Charlene at Il Burloni. My dad called me later that night and said the two of them were enjoying wine on the front porch afterward. I could hear the laughter through the phone. I later found out they both hated the wine because it was too sweet.
The next day, we had something special planned. My cousin Stephanie (my mom's brother's middle daughter) had flown in from Houston, TX to surprise my mom. Steph and I are the same age (actually she is 5 months older than me, which I point out any time I have the opportunity), and she and her sisters Shawna and Stacey and I grew up together. Nearly every Sunday growing up, we would all go to each other's houses to eat, watch Steelers and Pens games, laugh, and talk. My mom's sister, Martha and her husband, Dan, and their kids, Pat and Colleen, were often there as well.
I headed over to my parents early that day, and Steph and I were texting back and forth to time everything perfectly. She arrived around 2:30, and came in with beautiful flowers.
Mom was so so surprised that she cried. And cried. And cried.
Here's a video of Steph walking in:
Hannah, AJ, and Dylan came over too, and we all had such a wonderful time with Stephanie there. We laughed and cried and told old stories (my dad pulled some good ones out of the archives), and of course we ate! Mom made delicious Beef Stroganoff (AJ's favorite) with a separate batch of special gluten-free noodles for Hannah. She made a chocolate cake with white icing (her fave).
Time flew by way too quickly, and by the time it was dark, everyone headed out. We got some awesome pictures too.
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