Trudy

I just got back from over a week in Minnesota visiting my parents. We drove. In a car. From Utah to Minnesota. With two toddlers. 24 hours straight.

We decided that we should go straight through so that the kids could sleep for a large part of the trip. It kind of worked. Traveling that far is never easy. The trip there was fairly uneventful except for killing a rabbit. Chris drove right over it. Never saw it. It truly bothered me for hours. In fact it still bothers me!

I grew up in Edina, MN – a suburb of Minneapolis – and my parents still own the same home. We were there in time for Christmas Eve which was one key element in my ultimate plan. I was on a mission to give my mom a perfect Christmas.

My mom has metastasized breast cancer that mainly affects her bones. She has battled it successfully for six years, but as of a few weeks ago the cancer has turned mean. It has become aggressive. Her cancer marker numbers are up. The spot on her brain has grown and is now considered a dangerous tumor. Her leg pain is not a pulled ligament – it is a huge volume of tumors and small bone breaks all over her upper legs and pelvis. Her lungs feel different. There has always been a spot in them on her x-ray films, but we were told not to worry about it. She tells me that it’s cancer. She knows. Because of the leg tumors and breaks, she cannot walk without a walker. Her fatigue is enveloping and her appetite is gone. She’s recently lost 20 pounds.

Through all of this, she remains EXTREMELY positive. She actively studies quantum physics and it’s effect on healing. She believes that she can heal herself by mentally directing the energy in her body to do positive things. That is a very simplistic interpretation of her studies, but it’s about all I need to know. She believes that if she has REAL positive thoughts, then whatever she believes will happen - will. It’s amazing actually to listen to this person, ravaged by this horrible disease, talk about her prognosis.

I am much more positive about her outcome since I was able to spend some time with her last week, but before I left Utah I wasn’t as confident. I thought, more often than not, that this might be her last Christmas. I am ashamed to say this in case she reads this. Mom, I’m sorry.

I packed up gifts, food, sleeping bags, Sorel boots, pillows, cameras, and anything else needed for a cross country trek. I put my family through this so that we could all be together on Christmas Eve. My mom’s favorite day.

We got there in time – thoroughly exhausted – and I couldn’t have been happier. I am a traditionalist. I wanted to be with my parents on the exact day of the holiday.

The week went well. My kids didn’t tear apart their house (professionally interior designed with a color palette of beige and cream) and my dad and I only got into about two arguments about Bush. Not once did I leave the kitchen crying and run to my mom for comfort! (My dad and I have a somewhat tumultuous past)

I spent a lot of time on my mom’s bed talking. We talked about her growing up years. We talked about my new life in Utah. She gave me a ton of her jewelry. None of it is valuable, but it is all extremely sentimental to me. She still has things she received as a child and teenager. Each piece had a story and I hung on to her words for as long as my kids would let me. They would play quietly for awhile, but as soon as they noticed I wasn’t in the room, they’d come tearing up from the family room to find me.

The drive home was equally exhausting and taxing. Harrison got the stomach flu and threw up four times IN THE VAN! However, I wouldn’t trade my trip to Minneapolis for the world. I visited some friends. I went to some of my favorite places – The Turtle Bread Company, the Bibelot Shop, Jerry’s grocery store, Colonial Church of Edina – and I relaxed. I was with everyone I love and cherish the most for a whole week.