Sunday, January 18, 2009

Ups and downs

After a relatively strong day Friday, Steve had a rough start Saturday.

He woke up feeling weak and tired. He was in our closet, reaching for a shirt off a hanger, when he lost his tenuous balance and fell to the floor. He wasn't hurt but was shaken by the incident.

He stayed in bed most of the morning and early afternoon. Then we went to visit friends Ben and Aliisa, their three children, and Will, Holly and Conor.

Steve was able to sit for most of the afternoon and evening, and we all enjoyed catching up and reminiscing while our six children jumped, ran, played, drew, ate and more.

Steve, Will and Ben were in high school and band together; Aliisa and Ben dated during college; Will and Ben were roommates in college; Will introduced me and Steve at their apartment; Holly met Will about the same time; Ben was in law school at Texas Tech when Steve was getting his MBA at Tech; Will, Holly and I all worked at the Morning News together.

With all that history and continued common interests, there's never enough time to fit in everything we want to talk about. But we tried.

Steve feels a little stronger and more stable today.

A year ago yesterday, Steve endured a five-hour biopsy that revealed the Grade IV tumor. When I get discouraged and worried about his body's slow healing and these ups and downs, I stop and remember that we are truly blessed. A year ago yesterday, we weren't sure that we'd be this lucky, that we would be describing degrees of his strength and fatigue, that we would be having dinner with old friends, that we would be enjoying together our beautiful children.

We are incredibly thankful for the gift of the past year.

Cooper and Katie, before church this morning

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praying for you all.

That is a precious pic of K & C. They look so much alike!

Chrys

Anonymous said...

God bless you, Tyra. Y'all are in my heart and prayers. Peace be with you,
Cherie Arruda
( Newman Smith grad...Las Posadas at HCUMC)

Anonymous said...

I actually had forgotten how complex our connections were. We had such a nice time with you all too. Our kids really enjoyed playing with yours.
I hope Cooper is better and Steve is well. Analise went to Dr. today and tested neg. for strep. So I feel a little better that we didn't pass on to you guys.