Danke Schoen

This is my Thank You Letter to anyone and everyone who has prayed, fixed meals, visited, or thought about my Mom and our family these past few months.

If you don't know my mom was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer and it occurred very fast and we have all been thrown for a very big loop. Thankfully she has started treatment and we all look forward to the end. We are going to throw a big last day of chemo party!!

I know my mom is going to beat this and she will come out the other side even stronger then before, but I know she couldn't do it without lots of support. I am so thankful to all of her friends who have kept her spirits up especially at the beginning when everything was new and unknown. I can't begin to tell you how happy it made me to see a new card in the mail from the same friend who sent one the day before just to brighten up her day. 

Y'all will never know how much even the smallest things you have done mean to her and to us. 

I need to say a special thank you to my mother in law Joan, my father in law Carter and  Joan's sister Jean. We don't know what these next 2 weeks will bring and I know coming home to a freezer full of delicious home cooked meals will make whatever is to come so much easier. And no one will have to eat Chinese food for a while.

To all of our friends who have had parents that have gone through this it means so much to Jennifer and I that you have reached out to us. We know we aren't alone and we know we always have someone to talk to. And to our friends who have just been there for us Thank You more then you will ever know.

To Cindy, Thank you Thank You Thank You for mom's beautiful quilt. The day it arrived was an especially difficult time. Things were not going great and mom was feeling pretty sick. I could tell that she couldn't believe that someone so far away could be thinking about her. Just knowing there are people out there that don't even know her, but know what she is going through and praying for her is such a powerful thing.

Mckinley snuggling with mom and her new quilt

I think my mom said the most profound thing to me about all of this. She went to church while we were at the beach this past week and she said she felt like the priest was speaking to her. His sister had been diagnosed with cancer and he had of course started praying to God to heal her, but he realized he was Holding God Hostage because he would say "If you do this for me God I will do this for you" and that is not the way he wanted to pray. He wanted to Thank God for everything he had already done for him and pray for the strength of his sister and those working to help make her better. As she was saying this I realized this was exactly how I had been praying. "Lord if you make my mom better I will become a better Catholic, I will not only pray when I want something, I will be more kind to those who do me wrong, I will be a better mom, wife, daughter, person." Needless to say I don't pray like this anymore. I thank God everyday for the cancer not spreading, for living in Memphis with some of the best cancer treatment centers and doctors, to give her strength and humor through out all of this, to keep her faith strong, and to heal her body. Let's just say I pray a lot more these days and even after this is all over this has become a part of me and I am thankful for that.

If I haven't been able to tell you in person

THANK YOU!