On We Went. On We Go. in Everyday Ramblings

I took this two days ago but since then we are starting to see blooming crocus and the first daffodils and today two early blooming trees. Oh and there is an allergy and asthma alert.

Although it was glary and overcast all day it did not rain and that was a boon to Mrs. Sherlock and me on our walk. I haven’t seen her all week because she has had multiple doctors’ appointments with her husband.

The biopsy results came back on Tuesday and sort of blew a hole right through the middle of their lives. Her husband has malignant cancer and while there is an 85% survival rate with this particular type the treatment includes radiation and chemo 5 days a week for 8 weeks! Eek.

She had to cancel her bike-riding trip through the Florida Everglades in a few weeks but she is going to go on a planned snowshoeing trip to the Mt. Rainier area in Washington starting tomorrow. They will be doing positioning testing for the radiation and a full body PET scan to make sure the cancer isn’t elsewhere while she is gone and then they are both in for the grind.

I am so sad for them have to go through this. He told her a few days ago that he couldn’t, wouldn’t, make it through without her. She knew that but it was nice to hear it from him.

We talked about lots of other things, like the immersion blender I ordered and curing egg yolks to cook with and politics and history and a lot about white supremacy. Our sermon (or the time we have at church for the sermon) was about that last week.

This state I live in has a history of egregious racism. One of our board members shared that looking at the deed to her house, that she bought only 14 years ago; she found language saying the house could not be sold to a person of color. The state was founded with the idea that this would be a “white utopia”. It is a horrifying history to absorb.

I am rethinking my whole response to this history and believe there is more that I can do and we talked about how giving when asked makes us feel good, or most of us, but what about reparations? And we spent a big part of our walk talking about implicit bias.

She told me something that touched me deeply, especially because I have felt insecure this week about my enthusiasm for teaching and my skill set, vulnerable…she is participating in this year long spiritual development program at the church and one of the things you are supposed to do is pick a spiritual director and have one on one meetings with them to give you guidance.

She picked a person from the list of folks who have been through a particular skills learning program run here by a very well regarded Catholic Priest and went and saw her but it just wasn’t a match, though she tried to make it one. She apparently told the group this last week (after telling them about her husband’s diagnosis for which they were incredibly supportive) that I was her spiritual director.

And that I was cheap! All for the price of a cup of tea. :)

She helped me so much when Mr. Finch was sick. I could talk to her about any aspect of the craziness and she was implacable and wise. That was her professional role. This is different. This is her life. And I committed to being there for her steady and strong for the duration so she doesn’t have to be.

At least not all the time.

We saw something that opened both our hearts when we were walking. Remember the statue of our much loved former mayor Vera Katz I posted a picture of a couple of weeks ago with the pink hat on it?

Today there was no hat, but there was a woman standing next to the statue, it looked like maybe English was not her first language and she had a book and she was reading to Vera.

Mrs. Sherlock asked if I was going to take a picture. I said no, it is a private moment between the two of them.

And on we went. On we go.

Last updated February 04, 2018