Milestones! MONUMENTAL (& incidental)

Saturday - May 18, 2013

Magic!  In a crowd of 5K, Jonathan had an aisle seat, was visible, and next to us!

College graduations are truly monumental milestones, celebrating accomplishments and heralding upcoming life changes.  Sharing Jonathan's graduation from Virginia Tech was not guaranteed last May when we first heard "stage 4" or then again last fall when we learned that no donor was available to me off the bone marrow transplant registry.  And yet there we were - Megan on the cellphone, and Joe, Jonathan, and me together in Blacksburg.  It truly felt a bit magical  :)   And not just because Andy and Anthony surprised us by coming down for the festivities.  Not just because we found Jonathan in a sea of Hokies and ran around Lane Stadium so that we sat right alongside him.  Not because I didn't tear up as I had anticipated I would (and as I had done during Megan's fabulous graduation from William & Mary).  The magic was the incredible joy in seeing our wonderful young man in such a contented and secure place in life.  Surrounded by his college family, supported by his high school friends, excited by his past studies, and ready for his next year of academic work and job / school searches.  He looks great, he seems relaxed, and he is grounded and content.  I love Jonathan's low-key, objective, humble approach to life (yes, I love to see Joe in him!) and to see his outreach to his friends and community.  My two days in Blacksburg were a gift of shared experience and love made more precious by the threat that I could have missed them.  Milestone.

And that incidental milestone?  Well, that's the oncology appointment I have been awaiting.  I arrived back in Williamsburg to discover a letter (what?!  no phone call?! what's up with THAT?!) from VCU rescheduling the May 21st consult with my oncologist that has been circled in red on my calendar since February!  Argh!  And - of course - the rescheduled time is for the following day, a time when I had just scheduled a Skype interview / mock teaching session for a potential job.  Given that a full hiring panel is getting together to Skype cross-country at that time, I am not calling to explain why I must reschedule.  So who knows when I'll get the results of Wednesday's scans?

My current plan is to telephone on Monday and to see if I might have a phone consult and, if not, then to reschedule for later in the week.  Getting "the news" is indeed a small milestone and in the end - good news or bad - a few days difference will not impact results, just my psyche.

What an opportunity to practice calm ... and flexibility ... and optimism ....  I shall practice what I preach, "focus on the positives," and immerse myself in all these happy Hokie graduation emotions from this year and in anticipation of NEXT year when we get to do it all over again!