through a long, dark valley

On October 7, my brother Bill had thyroid surgery. On October 13, his wife Jayne went into the hospital. On October 14, she was moved to intensive care. She died October 17.


Bill had his post op check up Monday, October 31, Halloween. His doctor told him that the tumor they had removed was malignant and that he needed a second operation. Bill told me Friday -- said the operation would be Dec. 16. I couldn't process the information at the time. After he left, I sleepwalked through the afternoon. Saturday, the news sank in. I was devastated.


By Monday, November 7, I had learned that thyroid cancer is the easiest to defeat. Once the thyroid is removed, the cancer is removed.


I felt about six tons lighter. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought.


The universe found a way to drive home the point. I took myself to see a non-mainstream movie in Fort Collins's funky little independent theater. It was a pretty good movie but when I got out, there was a parking ticket on my windshield.


The next morning I opened the parking ticket envelope -- no fine.


Another thing that isn't as bad as I thought it was.


We are going to make it. We’ll make it through Jayne’s memorial service. We’ll make it through Bill’s operation.


This is a long, dark valley but we will emerge. We will be okay.


I insist.