3 Band-Aid Kind of Day

I got to go to the cancer center today for my 2 inch needle injection of hormone-fighting slurry today. Band-aid #1. Then I got my chest port flushed. Band-aid and poke #2. This afternoon I went to the grocery store and got my 4th COVID vaccine. Poke and band-aid #3. I went with Moderna this time. I get so sick with the Pfizer vaccines that I have had…at least for #2 and #3. I had had chemo the morning of vaccine #1 and had large doses of steroids floating through me. So we shall see. I have cleared my schedule the next two days if I have to be in bed with a fever and aches and pains like before. I am being hopeful though.

I managed to go to my church office and get 15 memorial Masses scheduled for Joe. There are so many wonderful friends who have donated for that cause…and some from around the world…having Masses celebrated in his honor and lighting candles for him in churches around the world. How can I not think our Joe is standing near our Lord and Savior with so many people praying for him? I also mailed several packages with t-shirts in them. So they are on their way if I picked yours up. I mailed 11 packages…dropped one off at a local house and have one to give in person on Monday. Whew. That was a good job done. Thanks for all who ordered the memorial shirts for Joe. They came out great and I love seeing his smile on the shirts. It is probably good the photo of him is on the back or I would be distracted and looking down at my front the whole time. Rich planted the tree were given for Joe this afternoon. We have had it for nearly 6 weeks but had to wait until it rained a bit and also warmed up a bit to put it in the ground in our backyard. There were some tears…okay, a lot of tears as we looked at it this afternoon. When Joe was born, we planted a willow tree in our front yard in Bellevue, Illinois. So it was kind of a full circle moment. This plant was gifted to us by a group of people I was student athletic trainers with back at Hayfield High School in Alexandria, VA. This would have been my 9th and 10th grade year, as I moved right after that. That these friends from the mid-80’s would gather together and get this tree to us in memory of Joe, was so touching. Even God cried as the skies opened up soon afterward and it rained big time for the first time in a long time. This tree looks small compared to the others, but those are 40 foot trees…so this one isn’t as small as it seems.

Lily has been channeling her inner Joe lately. She bought a pair of winter crocs (Joe swore by them…and loved his) and has been wearing them to school. (She is obviously not a fashionista) She also has been wearing her gold snake earrings. Joe used to have a white corn snake named Cora. She misses him, as we do. She and Joe had a special relationship. He was really into taking care of her and her future and her safety recently…getting her a mace keychain for her birthday and a book on personal finances. Joe was never afraid to talk to her about the hard stuff, which I think she appreciated about him. Unfortunately, that doesn’t get the same reception from Lily when it comes from her parents. (insert smiley face here)

I also included a photo of the beautiful Easter door our friends LuAnn and Jeff painted for us while we were away in KC. It lightens my heart a bit every time I see it. Thank you!