Celebrations

Last Friday night I got together with four friends to celebrate my cancer-free state. Four of us had helped out with a Girl Scout troop for our daughters from first through sixth grade, so we "bonded" big time, all of us sharing all the typical GS activities, such as:

• making "swaps" and going to swap meets ...
• taking samples of pond water (and getting a little wet and muddy) ...
• making milk-jug skeletons for Halloween ...
• "camping out" at the St. Louis Zoo, a local gym, and GS camps ("Um, do you smell smoke?") ...
• holding baby-sitting nights with games and snacks ...
• selling cookies and collecting "April showers" donations ...
• soliciting "illegal" (according to stringent GS rules) donations for Mother Teresa's work in India (more than $400!) ...
• flying to Chicago for a fun-filled three-day weekend!

Six years of fun, fun, fun! So on Friday, we toasted my no-more-cancer report with champagne, relived the past, shared the latest news, and looked to the future (we may form a book club!), breaking up our little party at 2:30 in the morning!

Then, yesterday, my saintly sister and I went shopping with our mother, ending the day with wine and food at a local eatery, where we sat outside on the patio in 65-degree weather (in November!), just enjoying life. We even had dessert because, well, we were celebrating our good day!

And tonight I'm joining a couple of other long-time friends at yet another celebration, woo-hoo!

For my birthday earlier this month my saintly sister gave me a silver bracelet with the sentiment, "Each day is a gift from God." And it is! And we need to celebrate that a little bit every day by sharing precious moments with family and friends, maybe having that dessert!, doing something nice for someone else (or making them laugh), or heck, just smiling at the world!

Thanks for checking on me!

Until next time ...

P