Happy Times While Waiting

I continue to wait for my next oncologist appointment where I will receive results of some of the various tests in the last 6 weeks. On June 4, I went for my chest/throat CT Scan just before going away to watch my son graduate from university. I now will get those results on June 20 when I see my oncologist.

In the meantime, I have thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by family and celebrating life. Last week, my son graduated from university. We rented a house near the university for the 7 family members that were gathered to celebrate my son's achievement. What a great couple of days we had!! We travelled from our various home towns to gather and visit on the Tuesday. The special moments started when we met up with each other on the 401 OnRoute for lunch. Then we arrived at the house. The house overlooked a couple of ponds. What a peaceful and serene view we had from the living room and sitting room. We saw various birds at bird feeders and the sun reflecting on the ponds during the day. At dusk, the ponds reflected lovely pink and purple hues. On Wednesday, we awoke with great excitement and expectation. The morning was spent relaxing and reminiscing until it was time to get dressed up and go to the university for the graduation ceremony. Thankfully, the day was cool and the auditorium was not overly warm. The graduation ceremony started at 2:30 and went through to about 4:00. When I saw my son enter into the auditorium, I was choked up with emotion. When I saw him receive his hood and degree on stage, I had tears in my eyes. I am so very, very proud of my son. At the end, the graduates exited through side doors to the grounds outside. Once the academic party left the stage, the audience exited through the side doors to find our loved ones. When we found my son, I was the last one to get a hug. I was so proud and we just hugged and hugged for a long time. I was tearful as this was a milestone that I really wanted to reach. My son was also tearful as it was a celebration not only of his graduation but of life!  After many pictures taken outside, we went to the alumni sponsored reception. My son went to find his girlfriend to introduce her to us, the family, en masse. Poor girl. She seemed very lovely.

We left the university and returned to the house for about an hour while we relaxed before going out for a celebratory dinner. I had made the reservations back in March. It was a restaurant that we have passed for the last 5 years on our way to visit our son while he was in university. Our reservation was for 7:00 p.m. When we arrived, we were shown to a dining area that overlooked Lake Ontario. We had a lovely view of the lake at dusk. In the distance, we could see three ships waiting for their turn to go through the Welland Canal. My son recognized that his girlfriend and her family were at the table behind us. This was not planned! What a coincidence. My son also recognized one of his roommates from the last couple of years and her family as they also were dining in the restaurant. My family enjoyed a lovely meal full of laughter, pride and love. Pictures of Lake Ontario at dusk were taken as we exited the restaurant after our meal. I found the view stunning and so very relaxing. This was the end of a perfect day filled with love of family, pride and celebration with our son.

We returned to our rental home. I have never seen 7 people change out of suits and back into casual clothes so quickly. We sat around, chatted and fully enjoyed our family time. On Thursday morning we tidied up, packed up and went our separate ways to return home to our various destinations.

Life has continued to be full and enjoyable. On Friday, I did have a routine mammogram just because I have reached a certain age this year. After that appointment, I was involved with a taping of a preview show for the Relay for Life here in Kingston. Saturday, we had my husband's cousin and husband over for dinner (ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, cake and pie) and a lovely visit as my father-in-law is visiting. It was nice for him to see his niece and us to visit with friends who are also family. Sunday we had more friends over who always enjoy seeing my father-in-law.

Over the weekend and this week, I have enjoyed tending my gardens. I did some weeding and some much needed watering. Then there is the time spent on the patio watching the birds, squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks play and frolic in our back yard. The fledglings are just leaving their nests under the watchful eye of their parents. It is fun to watch them attempt to flutter and fly. Sometimes, the little baby birds are staggering to and fro as they hop around the back yard and make their way to the safety of our hedge. All lots of fun.

Last night I enjoyed a little boat cruise on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. It was around dusk and the colours were pastels and subdued to create a serene voyage. The scenery and water reflected at beautiful, soft pink glow. So life has been full and wonderful as I await the appointments next week. I have started to have a little of pain in my abdomen which signifies to me that things might be growing in there. Oh well.....I find our more next week. In the meantime, life is grand.