A Season to be Thankful

Darby already did a catching up post -- so some of this will be duplicate....

We got back from Denver - and almost immediately landed with our feet running. Taking off a week means that no matter how well you were caught up before you left -- there's a great deal of work to be done. That adage turned out to be very true once again.

But enough of that stuff.

This is a special season for me this year - mainly because of the enormous hit my family took over this past month with news that my Dad had cancer of the kidney. We all took a gigantic deep breath and prayed for good news. The mass seemed enormous in comparison to the size of our organs and we were all very deeply concerned. But with each test, we got more cautiously optimistic - the cancer didn't spread, but he was definitely going to lose one of his kidneys.

Finally - surgery came and we would later find out that his cancer was encapsulated - good news. It was contained to the kidney and to one of his adrenal glands. The luke warm news was that the mass ended up being much larger than any of us had anticipated. The news is good for now - and he goes back to an oncologist in January for more tests to make sure no other organs or anything were affected.

So this is why this is my season to be very thankful. The totality of the last month has left us all exhausted -- but even in that very tired state, I'm once again reminded once again about just how precious life really is. It's something that so many take for granted each day -- losing precious hours in their driving commute while working in a less-than-fulfilling job only to punish themselves with a night of painful partying that takes two days to recover.

So please take a moment to send a thoughtful email to someone you love - a parent, a friend, a grand-parent, a sibling, a loved one and just talk for awhile. Even if it doesn't seem like much - the holiday season is upon us and it's a good time to slow down a bit and to reflect on the positives in our life while enjoying the warm company of the ones we love.

Happy Holidays!