It has been a busy few days, starting with a fantastic outing on Thursday evening with Clarky’s Kids to see “Finding Dory”. Clarky’s Kids is David Clarkson’s charity to support families with children who are treated at Grand River Hospital and who have been, or still are, dealing with cancer. It was a great break for Cailyn from her end-of-school-year projects and studying, and it was wonderful to connect with families we have met along our journey. Thank you, Clarky’s Kids!! If you go and see the movie, stay until the very end, past the credits 🙂 !!
“Just Keep Swimming” was definitely featured in the movie, and is a phrase I believe will always inspire me to take one step at a time. It’s so easy to wonder “what if?” and this question doesn’t often lead to happy considerations! Coincidentally, a dear friend brought me a Dory mug with my special phrase a few hours before the movie. I have used it every day since and would take it with me to London tomorrow if it wasn’t so big!! Tomorrow, June 28th, is Cailyn’s first MRI since stopping weekly chemo at the end of March prior to her surgery. It’s so easy to worry about the potential outcomes and it’s often a herculean task to stay hopeful… fear is something that seems to happen naturally but manufacturing hopefulness takes conscientious effort. That being said, I’m going to try very hard to stay in the moment.
On Saturday, Lauryn and I headed down to Ashbridge’s Bay for one of her beach volleyball tournaments. If you want to enjoy watching or playing beach volleyball on a beautiful summer day, this is most definitely the place to go. Six families from Lauryn’s Club team participated in the day. The best parts of the day were the moments we shared with others… our ride to and from the tournament with two different families; the visit we had with my brother, niece and nephew when they came to watch; hanging out with wonderful families on the beach; and, having dinner and gelato in downtown Toronto before heading home.
Sunday saw us heading back to Toronto for a family celebration of Father’s Day and two family birthdays. It was a short visit but, as always, so sweet. Each of us is aware of how fortunate we are to have the bonds we do… inevitably, the celebration ends up being more about appreciating the opportunity we have to get together than it is about anyone’s birthday. The time together was a little shorter than usual because two of the high-schoolers had exams this morning but we left it knowing that it wouldn’t be very long before we got back together.
Cailyn’s Grade 9 year officially ended shortly after 10am this morning when she finished her Math exam. She is so relieved that the crazy last few weeks of work are behind her but also a little sad that the fun part of school is over. Lauryn will have her last day of school on Wednesday and then they’ll both be in “summer mode”.
I’ll be jumping into summer mode myself, as soon as I hear that Cailyn’s tumour has remained stable!!