Gratitude

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." ~ Denis Waitley

   Les had an endoscopy yesterday and we met with the gastro-enterologist afterwards. The diagnosis is rectal cancer. Les' paperwork is in a fast track pipeline and we should be hearing from the surgeon's office this week about an appointment with him to discuss surgery dates, etc. With help from two of our children we've moved the boat to an undisclosed location for some "us time" and we have everything we need at the present. And most importantly, we are NOT alone!
   We wish to offer our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our family: children, grandchildren, in-laws, outlaws, cousins--you all know who you are and how much we love each of you on both sides of the Atlantic.
   To our friends and blog readers we say--how lucky are we!! Faithful, helpful, supportive, loving, kind, generous, humorous, amazing. Across the world and all along the canal we have heard from you with such loving support and care! 
   Last but not least we have infinite gratitude for each other. Both of us have faced cancer before. We have walked the cancer path for loved ones; Les for Val, and me for my mother. I have walked my own cancer path twice and beat it with unwavering commitment to my health, nearly every penny I had, and a world class education that taught me the value of proper, good research. 
   Across 5000 miles we found each other and we will face whatever life throws our way shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand. Les is my heart and I will fight for his life like I fought for my own.