Day 22: I am thankful beyond words for having been blessed with a friend like Cas. We met when we were 12, the same age my daughter is when this picture was taken. This woman is truly amazing. This picture was taken during a her visit to Wisconsin to help take care of me after surgery number 2. She did the same thing for the first cancer surgery and then again for the third. This last trip took her by way of Philadelphia in a snow storm only to end up caring for an old Italian woman in a wheel chair all night in the airport as they waited for a new flight due the next morning. She arrived, sleep deprived, the next evening as I came out of recovery. My son picked her up from the airport and drove straight to the hospital. I felt so bad for her making such a sacrifice on my account. Then the nausea set in from the anesthesia, and all I could do was say, "Hi..." and then barf in a bag. Heck of a way to great your best friend of 35 years. But she understood and was so caring and comforting.
We recently met in Cleveland for a 24 hour period of freedom from life to do the Run or Dye 5k...both of us driving about 7 hours from our respective states to meet in the middle. And as always, we were quickly able to fall into walk n chat, eat n chat, lounge n chat, run n chat mode. We have both come so far in our lives. We have both owned our own businesses, homes, cars, had substantial retirement savings, had 2 children, had broken marriages, and now struggle with the question, "What now?" We have both had to start from ground zero, a daunting, somewhat irritating task this late in life. But for 24 hours we allowed ourselves to take a break, to laugh like school girls again, jump up and down to crazy music while being doused with clouds of dye. I am truly thankful for this person that I can text in the wee hours of the morning and with whom I can play Words with Friends and then still end up talking with for hours on the phone when we have a breather. I hope in the next 20 years to find those "breathers" a little more often. But until then, we thoroughly enjoy our sporadic visits. Next visit...August...my turn to go to DC! Thank you, my friend!
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