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3:30pm…

A big day. A beautiful day…. blue sky, the sun was warming up the late morning to at least 70, and the fresh breeze met Sandy and I as we walked out of the hospital hand in hand. As nice as her stay in the hospital was, with the great staff taking care of her, it was "pure heaven" for her to walk out of there. And to walk out into an almost summer-like day was icing on the cake. It is so good to see her out of a hospital bed, wearing normal clothes, and walking (slowly) out in the sun instead of down hospital hallways. It’s overwhelming how beautiful such simple everyday things can be when they have been taken away… then given back. Even to have her sitting in the car next to me was pure joy, since I had been making so many solo trips lately.
She and I had a nice little transition back to "reality" when we left the hospital. We walked over to the Cancer Center (the wonderful, spacious and warm space I described before - more like a modern museum or art gallery) to get her multitude of drug prescriptions filled… we walked in to the sound of a great jazz guitarist… and a breast cancer awareness party in the huge lobby. They invited us over ("we’re not picky, everybody’s welcome"), where we had some delicious food, talked to a couple of women about lotions that may help Sandy’s skin during chemo treatments, admired some cool hats they were selling… and marveled at the surrealness of this re-entry into the world. After awhile we picked up her prescriptions and left for the hotel.
So here we are… Sandy, tired from all the activity and walking, napping peacefully. And I’m typing away, looking out into our little green woodland creek area, roses blooming near the patio… and life is good… and peaceful.
Before we left the hospital I helped Sandy carefully shampoo her hair, since she can’t get the incision area and staples wet for another few days. She wanted to look good for her debut. But until we got back to the hotel, she had not been able to actually see the incision and staples herself. So with a couple of mirrors, she got her first look…
"Oh my god… oh my… I’ve been walking around like this? People must be horrified."
I said, "Looks like a badge of honor to me."
"You’re right," she replied, "I guess I’ve got bigger things to worry about than my hair."
I kissed the shaved area of her head for good luck.
And it’s so good to be back at our home away from home…