Girls Day

Before Rick and I got together, he was living in an apartment in the neighboring town. Rick lived on the second floor. He had a friend, Sue, who lived on the first floor. Sue was always really sweet to Rick. She shared food and always checked up on him. She did the same. Sue was pretty sad that Rick was moving out. We both made a promise and commitment that we would stay close after Rick moved.

Sue and I have gotten to be friends. Like me, Sue has cancer, so we share many of the same frustrations with insurance, appointments, and other cancer-related stuff. Sue also lost a husband to cancer. I told Sue we cancer gals have to stay together. What’s unusual, our husbands and Sue and I all have had different types of cancer.

Sue’s family lives about an hour away. They have jobs and commitments, so sometimes Sue doesn’t have someone to go to appointments with her. I volunteer to go whenever Sue needs someone. Rick does too. Last week on Wednesday, we left with the intention of staying overnight in Iowa City to go to her appointments on Thursday. Sue said we’d have a girls’ day on Wednesday.

We left early and stopped to see her son on the way down. Then we went to the Amanas. For those of you not in Iowa…the Amanas is really called the Amana Colonies. It’s an area where Germans originally settled.

It has become a tourist area where people often stop. There is a very vibrant downtown area where many shop. Our main goal was to go to the restaurant.

I ordered my usual, a Reuben sandwich. I order them often. Rick kind of makes a joke about it. The food was fabulous. They sell food plated and also do family style if you request it.

After we ate, we stopped at one of the shops.

There was a time in my life when I liked shopping. Those days have passed. This was overwhelming to me…Just too much stuff!!

Isn’t that funny how a person changes over time?

Sue felt pretty much the same way. She lives in an apartment with her brother…so nope…no stuff for her either!!

We decided to go back to the hotel. I pulled out my cross stitch. I had kitted up something small to have to grab and stitch whenever I was in a situation like this…something easy I could work on if the lighting was bad. The first floss I pulled wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t show up on my fabric.

I ended up pulling some floss from my wool applique that I had with. I made it work. This is just something small and not a masterpiece, so it was okay to improvise.

The hotel we stayed at was great!! It was called Drury Inn. They cater to hospital patients, offering a big discount for them. They also offer a buffet-type evening meal. We had pasta with chicken and red sauce. They also offered a salad with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta. If you were watching carbs, one could easily put the chicken on the salad. For those who didn’t want those offerings, there were hot dogs with nachos. There were all sorts of beverages too.

Speaking of beverages… they had a bar, and they offered three free drinks for each adult. All of the food and drinks came with the hotel stay!!

In the morning we had a wonderful breakfast too. It was the nicest and cleanest hotel breakfast I’ve ever experienced.

The next day I spent time in the waiting room…I told Sue I was a champion at waiting rooms!!

I just stitched. This was how far I got.

Sue got good news from her appointments, so we packed up and headed home.

I have a friend, Linda, who also has cancer and recently got good news. I am in Iowa City for scans and appointments now as you are reading this. Sue got good news…Linda got good news. I’m hoping for some good news for me too. They say things happen in sets of three, so I have my fingers crossed. I’ll let you know more when I know more.

I am so thankful for those in my life who also deal with cancer. It’s so good to have people who get it. Thanks so much for your friendship, Sue and Linda…and the many who have reached out to me. I so appreciate being able to share the load.