The 4th of July! A Celebration of Life

Yesterday was an amazing day. 2009 was a pretty terrible year for my family. In May of 2009, my sister was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer (that's really bad), and the prognosis was grim. There were lots of scary times. By the time my sister finished chemo and radiation, she was very weak and sick. She was hospitalized soon after due to an allergic reaction from the chemo. Then, not long after, she made the difficult decision to have her colon and most of her large intestine removed to prevent the cancer from coming back. That surgery was long and difficult and the recovery was hard. But she made it through! And she's doing great now!

Not long after my sister's recovery, my uncle (my mom's brother) was hospitalized with complications from pneumonia. He also contracted MRSA from the hospital. That combined with Rheumatoid Arthritis and many many heart problems caused his health to spiral downward rapidly. There was one very late night that I sat at the hospital with my mom, when we were certain that my uncle was not going to make it through the night. My aunt said "Just wait! Next year at our 4th of July party, we'll be laughing and celebrating the fact that both (my uncle) and (my sister) survived 2009!"

Well, guess what?? Yesterday, we had our annual lake party in Spring City, TN! And guess what else??? We celebrated our two survivors!!! It was a very happy and emotional day for us all!

And I am so thankful everyday that my sister AND my uncle are still here with me! That is what I'm thinking about this July 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone!