Back in January, my mother mentioned a wedding anniversary gift that we could all give. She wanted us all to go to the temple on May 3 to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Nicole mentioned having all of us surprise them and go to Keokuk to be in the temple together. We didn't all jump on board until the cancer diagnosis. After that came to light, we all decided we had to get together. For the first time (I think ever) we were all back together as a family of 7 - just me and my siblings with our parents. It was fun! I drove back out with Naomi and left the rest of the kids home with Kevin (who worked half days so the kids wouldn't be home alone all day). Todd, Nicole and Alise flew into St Lois and Monique drove to St Lois to pick them up. It was a wonderful visit, even if it wasn't under the best circumstances.
Mom had her second dose of chemo on April 25, so we were happy that she was feeling so well when everyone arrived the end of the week. (I arrived on Friday, April 29, and everyone else arrived together Saturday evening, April 30.)
Her greatest concern was her hair. She hadn't washed it since she started chemo and was worried about doing so. It was time to wash her hair, now that everyone was here to support her. I took some before pictures...
Alise and Nicole helped her wash her hair in the kitchen sink. It all came out, for the most part, and that was hard for all of us. Fortunately, she handled it with grace and dad helped with some humor.
Alise helped style the wig - she is the hairdresser after all. Mom hated the wig but hated not having any hair at all even more. I'm sure she will get used to it, but it's just not her hair.
We enjoyed playing games together. Laughing and joking and talking and eating.
Alise is always ready to do hair for anyone who wants it. Nicole loves being taken care of. Todd enjoys mocking.
You could tell my mother is loved by many people. She had several flower arrangements around the house, with wonderful notes. There were cards from friends all over, as well as pictures from lots of grandchildren. What a blessing and boost for her at this time.
As she wished, we went to the temple together on May 3 - what a wonderful way to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary.
We decided to make a book for them as a gift. We looked through their pictures and found some great things to show what has happened since their wedding, 50 years ago. It is Alise's job to put it all together so I'm sure she'll have fun with that. It was very fun to look through all those old pictures and talk about the memories we have from our past together.
Naomi did great hanging out and probably wondered where all her siblings went. She was the only child with 7 adults and she was just fine with that.
There was some fun with families via Face-time - technology is amazing.
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