the wonderful people in my life

I need to write about the incredibly supportive, loving, and thoughtful people in my life.  Not a single day goes by that I don’t get some sort of pick-me-up: a card, a phone call, an email, a package, a bouquet, a meal, snacks, a visit, a facebook post…  I could go on.  People are constantly reaching out to me, doing something thoughtful for me, saying something encouraging to me.  I’ve heard from nearly everyone I know, and a lot of people I don’t know! 

My Bangkok friends bring us dinner every week.  It’s always such a treat to have a meal brought to your home – and most of the time, the friend(s) can stay to eat with us!

(Silly me never remembers to take pics, though.)

I get lovely cards all the time with encouraging notes.  They always seem to come on days when I feel the worst, and they always cheer me up.

Several people have sent me scarves and hats and even wigs!  One of my best friends made a video for me about how to tie the scarves in a cute way, taking me from feeling like a scullery maid to feeling a tiny bit fabulous.

I mentioned in the last post that beautiful bouquets of flowers arrive at my door every Monday.  They’re from my family, Ian, and a couple of friends.  I’ve never had fresh flowers in my  house all the time before – it’s a big time mood booster. 

Our DVD library has expanded tenfold.  We had nothing to watch – cable here is pretty crappy, Netflix takes forever to arrive, and local DVDs don’t play on our player (we need to get a universal DVD player, but have had a few other things on our plate).  Now we have all sorts of things to watch – and I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, sometimes I just need to veg out in front of the tv.  Now I can!

I have an expanding magazine library going too – some have sent me magazines they finished with, and others have given me gift subscriptions.  Everything from the New Yorker to US Weekly!

A friend’s mom, whom I’ve never met, knitted me a gorgeous ‘healing shawl.’

A friend of my sister’s knitted Sam a super cute little hat – I’ve never met her either!

An old friend who I haven’t seen in many, many years sent me this beautiful necklace.

 

I felt pretty lousy on my birthday, but it was impossible to have a bad day.  I got dozens of kind facebook messages.  My family made a podcast for me that blew my mind – each member of the family recorded an audio message and Abby combined them into one podcast.  My niece and nephews sang songs, told stories, and read poems to baby Sam.  I cried the entire 20 minutes.  And I had several visits from friends throughout the day, including a little surprise party in the evening with champagne and cake J

 

There are so many people to thank that I’ll say a general “thank you” SO much to everyone.  Thank you for all your thoughtfulness. 

But I do have to thank my parents specifically.  They practically live at the post office, sending me care packages constantly.  My mom bought out the candy canes at her local grocery store because she knows I love them – and they help with my nausea.  They’ve sent health food, yummy treats, DVDs, books, little items I can’t get here, and of course, candy canes.  They are tireless in their efforts to make me feel loved. 

And my mom was here for 6 weeks, helping me unpack our 5000 pound shipment from the states and organize the apartment when I had little energy and even less motivation.  Next, my mother-in-law, Luz Marina, stayed with us for nearly 8 weeks, taking care of both Sam and me when things got rough.  She also helped Ian and I decorate our apartment, making it start to really feel like home.  Both moms came all the way to Asia and hardly had the chance to do anything fun - but they didn't complain.  They were truly here to help us, and we were so grateful.


And, of course, Ian.  He’s with me through every moment of this - taking care of me when I feel awful, keeping track of my meds and appointments, holding my hand during chemo, giving me pep talks when I get sick of it all…  Can’t imagine going through this without him.  And I never would've chosen the strange timing of having a new baby while going through treatment, but I can't imagine going through this without Sam, either. 

Sorry for being mushy – I’m just filled with gratitude and love for the people who have made these past few months not only bearable, but pretty remarkable.  Thank you everyone!