A Very Rude and Un-Welcome House Guest...

During the fall of 2010, while mom was busy planning our annual Girls Getaway Trip, cancer was busy setting up quarters in her pancreas.  Like a rude house guest, uninvited and so very unwelcome... pancreatic cancer reared its ugly head on the eve of our highly-anticipated Girls Trip.

It was a pre-cursor to all things rude and ugly about this particular cancer.  And it was just the beginning...

For years Mom always planned a fun trip around the holidays for her "girls."  Daughter, Daughters-in-law, and Granddaughters.   A trip.  For the weekend.  Just us girls.  Nothing spectacular, but always, always special...

There were only 2 rules:

1) The Girls had to be at least 18 and/or graduated from high school to come (and yes, the younger granddaughters always begged to go!)

2) The destination had to be something fun that none of us would do on our own. 

It wasn't long before the Girls Getaway Weekend was a tradition.  Memory-making trips that to this day make my heart smile.

 

 

 

 

We have laughed and giggled and stayed up late.  We have shopped til we dropped and then shopped some more.  We have eaten gourmet in fine dining attire and junk-food snacked in the car.  We have seen glorious shows (the Rockettes!) and stumbled upon a sweet Handbell performance.  We oohed and ahhed at Santa Land in Tyler and fell in love with the antebellum homes on our very first Christmas Home Tour in Gainesville.  We have stayed in charming Bed and Breakfast Inns and slept in a renovated brothel.  Walked the soles of our shoes off at the famed Canton Flea Market and marveled at the snowfall in our Great Wolf Lodge adventure.  Always, always special... Legacy Living at its best!

 

 

 

 And through it all, Mom was our constant...

 

That fall of 2010 we were all excited about our Girls Getaway to Dallas and the Chi Omega Christmas Marketplace.

Mom had been experiencing some minor digestive issues thru the summer months, but nothing of note.  Her primary care physician prescribed some heavy duty antacids and we thought nothing more of it, instead planning shopping lists and sightseeing tours for our girls weekend.  

By the end of September Mom knew something wasn't right.  The vague, but unrelenting pain in her upper abdomen, the constant indigestion... as a nurse, she heeded the red flags, and made an appointment with a gastroenterologist.  Unfortunately he couldn't see her for over a month... 

Fast forward to the week of our Girls Getaway.  The appointment with the gastroenterologist was on Monday.  We left for our trip on Thursday.  Still blissfully unaware of how our world was about to change...

The specialist took one look at mom and started ordering all kinds of tests.  Blood work, ct scans, ultrasounds.  We were startled out of our complacency... a frission of unease rippling under our concerned smiles.

We learned later that the doctor could tell mom was becoming jaundiced, something not apparent to our untrained eyes.  I think mom knew but had been hoping against hope she was wrong.  We flew thru the tests and waited for results.

Wednesday afternoon I received a call from mom.  The doctor needed her at the hospital in the morning for another test.  Non-negotiable.  But.... our trip.... the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

She encouraged us all to go.  Actually, she insisted.  Refused to let us even talk about cancelling...

For the first time in all our Girls Getaways, we left without mom.

By the time we returned, mom's journey with pancreatic cancer had begun.

Every journey has a beginning.  And this was ours.  Scary doesn't even begin to do it justice.

Join us this month as we unravel the scary, and find the gift of Grace...

for there has always been Grace enough for this Journey,

Always.

 

Girl Time

Some weekends are just meant for girl time...

Like this past one.  A girls' getaway.  Mothers. Daughters. Friends. Grandmas. Babies.

Oh.... It was good.  Balm to the soul.  Laughter loosed.  Cares shared, burdens lifted, joy exploding good.

14 of us went to Galveston Island and stayed in a fabulous Beach House.

 

And the fabulous part?  When we divided the cost between all of us, it was only $108 a piece for the whole weekend!  Now how cool is that?!  I think I just found a new vacation destination!  And it was a fantastic, private getaway that allowed us the space to get crazy loud (it happened!) and also to spend time, just us girls, with no distractions...

Mothers and Daughters.  Sisters and Friends.  Grandmas and Babies.   Friends for the ages. 

Getting away from the responsibilities and duties of our lives. (Thank you Farmer Husband for holding down the fort and taking care of the critters!)  We flew the confines of our organized chaos and gathered together for time away...  Retreating to find that center again.  Breathing deep.  Inviting Christ to renew our hearts and refresh our spirits.  It was glorious.

Long walks on the beach...

 

 

 

Hilarious, side-splitting comic relief...

 

 

And through it all, the thread of Community.  Women-folk lifting one another up in the body of Christ.  It was our theme.  And it was intentional.  For Community is not just about being together.  Community is about doing life together.   And it truly takes time.  And deliberate attention.

 

It was not easy to get all of us together for a whole weekend!  Each one there was pulled in a million directions.  Work, Children, Husbands... and yes, illness.  Even the remnants of grief.  One has lost a husband to cancer.  I have lost my mom.  Katie has lost her grandmother.  Others have suffered debilitating emotional hurt.  Some are struggling to find their place, to find their purpose... Each one brought the weight of their world into the midst, and together we chose to let it go for this space of time and find peace.  And laughter.  And joy.  And healing.

 

This weekend past was so needed and so blessed.  The core of friendship began with these 6:

 

 

We are the "moms" and we each brought a "gift" to the weekend.  We had skits, devotions and even a book club discussion!  We all read The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks in the weeks leading up to the retreat and then had a great time sharing our thoughts and insights (if you've never read it, put it on your must-read list - such a beautiful telling of a love story - you will be laughing and crying by the end!) and we wrapped up the weekend with one mom leading us into a very special time of personal, quiet sharing with our daughters (there was much laughing and crying there too! Not to mention the hugging!)

 

Some weekends are just meant for getting away!

 

 

 

And for discovering things!

 

 

Like Big, Ugly Sand Worms!  It was really BIG!  And I almost stepped on it!!!!  Eeeek!

 

 

It was also a weekend meant for exploring...

Historic Downtown Galveston!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we treated ourselves to a Beach Photo Shoot! 

So. Much. Fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the youngest to the oldest...

A weekend for Legacy-Living,

making time for the people and things that matter.

 

The cares of the world are still there,

but the hands of community are now there as well,

bearing the burden with me,

sharing the load,

engaging the heart, gifting a smile.

 

These sweet women, precious Hands of Community,

you who have rocked the babies,

brought the meals that fed body and soul,

 and held me together

when the grief swamped...

 

Your giving hands have lightened the load,

soothed the hurt and created joy.

 

Precious Friends, 

You have been Jesus to me.