Abandon Shoes

Jenny here. It's the last day of Chapter One of treatment, which ended up being 2 weeks of chemo treatment and almost 3 months recovery.  We've had a few beautiful days of snuggles, a movie at a theater, and enjoying some restaurant favorite food before the immunosuppressed diet. We've had the house to ourselves and, as much as I should sleep, I can't take my eyes off him...I'm filled with wonder about what Chapter Two will bring. We are constantly with love. Surrounded by it.

Chapter One, filled with each step ending in an adverse reaction, a wonderful team, yet puzzling path.

Chapter One, brought out the best and worst in the people around us.  We rely on the best and try to understand the worst.

Chapter One, brought out the storm and the calm inside of us, swirls of both at once, and yet here we stand. Here...we still stand. Ready as we can be to take on the next leg.

My own words don't seem adequate today. Poet David Whyte's words, soothe my soul. I hope you enjoy it as well, along with a photo summary of Chapter One.

FINISTERRE

The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,

into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you

as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way

to your future now but the way your shadow could take,

walking before you across water, going where shadows go,

no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass

except to call an end to the way you had come,

to take out each frayed letter you brought

and light their illumined corners, and to read

them as they drifted through the western light;

to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;

to promise what you needed to promise all along,

and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here

right at the water's edge, not because you had given up

but because now, you would find a different way to tread,

and because, through it all, part of you could still walk on,

no matter how, over the waves.

- David Whyte