Counting My Blessings

I was set back this week by two crises in my life that came unexpectedly. First, my grandfather, who is ninety-seven fell and broke his hip. The second came when my twenty-three year old daughter, Trisha, called me to tell me that the Dr. had diagnosed her as having cancer and wanted to do exploratory surgery on Monday. Two people that I have been close to in my life that have shared many holidays and made them more than a little bit special. This article is about them.

I have many childhood memories of when I used to visit my grandparents. They used to live in a big brick house that my grandfather built himself. There were apple trees in the back yard. I remember getting sick off of them one summer eating them before they became ripe. My grandfather a tall stately man was always the rock of the family. He was the one who always demanded respect from others and got it. He retired from the Newport News shipyard years ago. However, he never stopped taking care of his family. My daughter had a baby that was born early and my grandfather hired a driver to take him 75 miles to the hospital just so he could welcome the child into the world. He asked me “can he hear me because I can not see him.” I said “yes Granddaddy he can hear you,” and he talked to the baby.

My daughter was a miracle when she was born. She weighed two pounds and eleven ounces. Small babies run in our family, as does the dreaded cancer. I myself had to have a partial hysterectomy when I was only twenty- one years old. Trisha’s hair is red now because she dyed it. To me she is the most beautiful woman in the world. I guess I am bias because she is my daughter. During the last four years she has had two premature babies and both died. Rico, who died shortly after birth and Devin, who died at almost 8 months. The thought of loosing my only daughter is frightening. Yet today we spent the afternoon together. I watched her as she sang along with the jute box, her voice was so pretty. She is a pillar of strength. We were riding along and she told me she was not going to panic until they told her the extent of the cancer she had. Which she will find out after her surgery?

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