Parents

There are many heroes who support Jon and I as we face the challenges that accompany his diagnosis.  Four in particular have shown amazing faith and courage...our parents.  My parents were in town to celebrate Maggie's 5th birthday the weekend we found out Jon had a mass in his brain.  I can still remember walking through the front door in a haze from the MRI.  Jon was practically catatonic, sitting and staring into space after receiving the life altering news from me just minutes earlier.  He made sounds that I hope to never hear again...anguish mixed with terror, grief and shock.   Those sounds will never be erased from my memory.  Like a movie playing in my head,  I see my parents in the backyard playing with our children.  I walk outside, saying the words while they look at me with disbelief.  I return to the house, get the phone and go to the corner of the yard to call Jon's parents, who were in Florida at the time.  It was by far the most difficult call I have ever made.  I could barely utter the words.  In those early moments, when our world came crashing down, our parents, in their own tailspin, started holding us.  Jon's offered to call his siblings and quickly made plans to return home.  Mine took over caring for Maggie and Tom, while we grappled with what was ahead...still so much unknown.  Although my parents left in the wee hours the next morning to return home, they held me close and promised to be back whenever and for whatever we needed.  The week that followed was a whirlwind.  Jon's parents drove us to the city for doctor appointments while mine made arrangements to return to Long Island to care for the kids during my stay in the city for Jon's surgery.  From that first moment, our parents have never let us go...they are steadfast; cooking, cleaning, repairing, listening, praying, encouraging, questioning, guiding.  As parents, Jon and I never want to see our children in pain.  I can't even begin to fathom the agony our parents felt and continue to feel each time we face yet another obstacle...surgery, chemo, seizures...  Yet they never make it about them.  They continue to support us... Their love is infinite.  Our parents, with their 95+ years of marriage between them demonstrate how to be strong as partners and parents.  I don't think there will ever be enough words to thank them for the many gifts they have shared with us.  I just hope they know how much we love and appreciate them.  We are truly blessed to have them in our lives.