Tuesday, September 9, 2008

a Bell family dinner

So this weekend was bland. Edited the news both nights and stayed up well past my new bedtime (around 11...fatigue...number one side effect of cancer)(number 2 sarcasm)(number 3 presents)
yes. lame. i know. but its what i get paid to do.

the ONE highlight was watching my Pirates destroy WVU saturday afternoon.
i should have been there...drunk and arghing my head off like everyone else.
ideally i would have been in the stands with Hannah, Amy, Megan, Alli, Sarah and Melissa after a gnarly AKPsi tailgate. instead i was sitting in my tiny edit baying screaming espn and arghing to myself. YAY for being ranked number 14th. PURPLE! GOLD!

ok enough of that.

so it is monday. or was. its around midnight.
my mom calls this morning with a crazy story about how 2 women were sitting next to one another at their sons' baseball game gossiping when one turns to the other and says i have someone i want you to pray for this 23 year old girl...and the other interupts her to say...Kim, yeah i've heard about her.
this is crazy. and amazing. and i am incredibly blessed. have i said thank you? because i feel as though i can't say it enough. and i know that once the going gets to be a bit rockier i may forget to say it. I am thankful for my family. Those crazy Millers. The most amazingly LOVING family on the planet...how i got lucky enough to be one of them i will never know...i know that if i needed even the tiniest thing (like mashed potatoes) they would be there for me. and my parents have been tremendously supportive. and i know the time will come when eventually i will have to lean a little bit...but i know they will be pillars of support when i need them the most.

i am also thankfully for my other family...my chosen family of best friends...my bffs...
tonight i'm going to single out one of them...her 15 minutes of blog fame if you will...

A tale of Mary Adelaide and Kim:
the first time we hung out did not go so well. i think it was freshman year of high school.
as time passed we grew to tolerate one another. by senior year i was invited to the bell house for sleepovers. by the time we left to go off to college we were good friends. Our connector friend had been Christine (informally known as Chrissy) who was attending UNC, while i was of course at ecu and MA was at Peace College in raleigh...so when i went to chapel hill to visit MA was always there and we had one thing in common...the need to go out and find a party. when school ended and it was time to head back home for the summer. we were instantly glued to one another the two of us along with chrissy and michelle quickly became what was to be called the usuals (i will forever be grateful to wooten for giving us a name). we were always together. always causing trouble. we joked about being two halves of the same person. she was my BFF. over the past couple of years I have spent almost as much time at her family's house as my own.

at one point i even had my own bed. i would spend time there even if mary adelaide was absent. it became another home for me. last year mary adelaide's sister (and another one of my bffs) taylor was diagnosed with lung cancer (so far so good on the cured part) so if there is one family who knows kind of what i'm going through its this one...

Mary Adelaide invited me over for dinner tonight after calling me BEFORE 9 this morning while she was on I-40 east followed by a call an hour later from her mom. I accepted first off because i love spaghetti, second bc i hadn't seen the bells in a while, and third it meant some face time with MA...so i go over on my dinner break from work and immediately am greeted with hugs from Nancy and their family friend Sherry (sp? maybe an i? regardless) we catch up on the latest cancer info while ma and i feist on bread and sauce. before dinner big Doug (or Ezra if you are a usual) says grace (probably one of the most moving things said about me in my presence since these whole cancer shananigans began) we dine on pasta then cupcakes for desert while normal bell family business takes place...discussing school work, ecu, bottomless appetites, and Mac's need for a napkin. As i'm leaving Nancy offers her support anyway she can help there are more hugs all around. again i am astounded by how lucky i am.

ps i am not a huggy person so these people must be special if i am enjoying this simple gesture

OH and Nancy mentioned this quote over dinner, then i saw it later on the myspace page of a breast cancer survivor

live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning...Satan shutters and says "oh shit, she's awake!"

i think i can do that.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is the best quote, possibly EVER!

Christine D said...

i love you more than life. more than even shoes. being a usual is my favorite thing on earth.

Anonymous said...

I probably shouldn't read this at work anymore, cuz I'm either LOL'ing my head off or sniffling uncontrollably....i love you MORE than so much stuff too!!!! Can't wait til Saturday :o)

Anonymous said...

In your case, when your feet hit the floor in the mid-day then Satan will say, "Oh shit, she's awake!!!!" jk :) Love you. Mean it.

Unknown said...

not good on the keyboard, but - HEY - what's a little finger search?! Myra told me about your blog, and I am so proud of you! Sounds like you're learning all the in 'n outs of the hospitals. Our prayers (many going up from Charlotte) are that all that will prove unnecessary. I won't call; you probably get all of that you can handle, but if you want to, call anytime of day or night. Your 'step-cousin'

Spolli said...

oh akpsi tailgates... how i miss them and home football games and getting retarded downtown with my akpsi loves. miss you! and so glad you're doing well. we're always thinking about you up here. xoxoxo