Busy, Busy

This past week was an unusually busy one for me. I was on the go from Wednesday through Sunday. It started out by me having chemo and bone strengthening treatments on Wednesday, followed the same day by a visit with my primary doctor, which ended up in a change in one prescription and receiving two new prescriptions.

The day came to an end with a stop at the grocery store to stock up the fridge and pantry with necessary foods.

On Thursday, we went to the Glasgow airport to pick up my brother, Steve, who lives in southeast Iowa. He and I try to get together for a visit once a year. This year, because of my schedule for chemo treatments, it wasn’t possible for me to get to Iowa to spend time with him, so he came to visit me.

As the years have passed, he and I have grown much closer. Our face-to-face visits have become much more important to the both of us. Two of our cousins we spent a lot of time with growing up have passed away. I wasn’t able to make it to either funeral, but my brother represented both of us at the funerals.

Part of the reason we’ve gotten closer is that we have no other brothers or sisters. We’ve no aunts or uncles left and our parents have been gone for many years.

Friday, my brother got a chance to watch our granddaughter play in a varsity volleyball game in Opheim. So he also got a chance to see what the countryside looks like in our area. Added to his enjoyment of the evening, was the fact our granddaughter’s team won the match.

On Saturday, Steve helped me prepare for a family meal at my house. After everyone was gone, he commented the meal had been easy to prepare and was very good. He’d mentioned he’d been impressed with everything. It wasn’t a fancy meal for sure -- build your own super nachos. But it was something he had never eaten.

Sunday brought about the 100th anniversary celebration for our church in Nashua -- Queen of Angels. It started with Mass being celebrated by Bishop Michael Warfel of the Great Falls-Billings Diocese. The church was completely filled with parishioners, friends from other churches, and former parishioners. It was so good to see everyone who attended.

Afterwards, everyone gathered at the Nashua Civic Center for a meal, looked at picture displays made by parishioners, and shared memories of growing up in Nashua and attending Queen of Angels.

The last evening Steve and I shared was spent visiting about our growing-up years and what we learned from our parents. And how we have tried to pass on what they taught us to our own children.

Steve left this morning -- Monday -- to return to his home. He’d told me on Sunday night not to interrupt my rest to bid him goodbye as he wants nothing more than for me to regain my health, so I’m capable of making a trip to Iowa to see him and his family as well as the children of my husband’s brother.

If so, it will give Steve and I a chance to share more of our history with them so they will be able to learn more about their background.

Over the last few days, Steve and I had the chance to spend time together, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were able to share our love for each other, the love for our own families, and even to increase that love.