Lunch today

This blog is a mostly accurate glimpse into our lives with cancer. I say mostly because there are things I omit.

I don't report every tiny Steve symptom. I don't write about every time one of us cries. I don't detail every conversation about how the Damm Spot affects Steve and our family.

I also don't include all the turmoil that Cooper and Katie face. I want to protect their privacy. I don't want to violate our trust.

Still, it is fair to say that Cooper struggles more with expressing himself than Katie does. It's a combination of age, gender, personality and more.

We're doing our best to give him the space and resources he needs to cope with all the changes in our lives.

For all those reasons and more, I was especially proud of our 7-year-old son today. (I'm always proud, of course, but today was extra special.)

I sat with Cooper and his sweet friend at lunch today, just before taking Steve to treatment. Here was part of our conversation.

Friend: Cooper, why haven't I been to your house in a long time?
Cooper: (Shrugs, looks at me)
Me: Well, Cooper's Daddy still isn't feeling well, and we've had to limit how often we have visitors.
Friend: He's been sick for a long time. For more than a year!
Cooper: Yes, he has brain cancer.
Friend: Does he have holes in his brain like my great-grandma did? She lost a lot of her memory.
Cooper: Oh no, he remembers lots of stuff.

Cooper was calm and matter of fact. And he was obviously proud of his Daddy.