Dawn

It's clearly been a tough run for the Wood family lately.  Yesterday seemed like virtual reality given we had all been with Susan a week before, preparing to get her out of the hospital.  It was perhaps most comforting to see our scattered (geographically) family come together to be in Metairie.  A favorite song of mine says, "We learned our lesson from the start.. the only thing you can depend on is your family."  And while Jay isn't family, he sured delivered like a Wood.  He had a great eulogy, challenging all of us to adopt one of our favorite traits of Susan and perfect it in our lives, so that she may live on within us.  As he articulated, Susan was simple, determined, and most surely loving.  I'd like to add one- light-hearted and fun-loving.  For some reason, all of my memories of her prior to her hospitalization involve a lot of laughter.  Perhaps the most defining trait of Susan's life was her determination.  She started two companies and battled the sclerosis of Louisiana's reticence to any innovation and change, trust me- it stinks (coming from a self-proclaimed New Yorker).  She cared for her two wonderful sons like a lioness would defend a cub.  She had so many frequent medical setbacks, and they never came in the way of developing really innovative products (including sugar-free and artificial free snow balls and drink mixes, an idea I really think still has some legs).  Jay's observations were really enlightening to me, and if we all challenge ourselves to be persistent, simple, loving and light-hearted, I think we'll all be smiling when we leave "this mortal coil," as no doubt Susan most definitely was.

On Carl's front, we got some good news yesterday: chemistry and histology confirmed no presence of "blasts" or cancer cells in his marrow.  He has a very mild skin rash, which the doctor believes is proving that he has a bit of graph vs. host disease.  That means Sissy's cells are attacking cells in dad's body.  That also generally means her cells are packing a punch and can eliminate any cancer cells that could be hiding out in the remote parts of his bones.  Dad's chances of staying cancer free are actually higher if he has graph vs. host disease, but it can also be a miserable disease.  A mild skin rash would be just the trick, so hopefully Sissy's cells will leave it at that.  For now, I'm taking it as sunrise for our family.  The beginning of a bright period, where we will all be engaged, persistent, loving and light-hearted.  Susan lives in us, like dawn: refreshingly light after a long night.

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice." -Ernest Hemingway