A thank you note to my daughter

my husband and i went down to raleigh to visit my daughter and son-in-law yesterday. we had to leave a little earlier than we had planned- due to the bad weather. we had some snow and strong winds yesterday. the big,bad storm is scheduled for tomorrow and tuesday,though. snow,ice,Arctic temperatures,etc. after all, it IS winter. i think that this year we have had more snow than usual. figures, since the meteorologists predicted a mild,dry winter for us. lol

my daughter had my Christmas present to give to me yesterday- it got hung up in the Christmas rush, you might say. anyway, was i ever surprised!! what she had done was design my blog into a hard bound book! it was just beautiful. on the cover, below the title" Losing the butterfly", she had a wonderful picture my son-in-law had taken of a swallowtail butterfly. on the back cover, she had the picture of our house and the "healing garden" that my husband had planted for me. below this picture, she had one of my quotes: " i am getting stronger( it's the Zumba!) and i am becoming happier, and less fearful. i have learned that cancer journeys, like life journeys, are better shared with loved ones and friends. i hope that everyone can enjoy and make the best of their own journey."

i am not a person who is prone to crying, but the tears flowed! what a beautiful and special gift. the book goes up to my entry on december 6th. she said that she would continue it, if i continue on with my blog. ( i will of course, it is quite the incentive!) i have read over it today, and i am amazed at the details that i had already forgotten. i am glad that i documented them, and i hope that the information i have provided can help someone else who might be dealing with similar issues. she was not able to include any comments on my blog- but i have them on-line of course. i am, as i have said, truly thankful for all the comments that have been posted.

wow, what a year 2010 has been for me. i look forward to this new year, but will always remember 2010, and try my best not to forget lessons learned. thank you again to my daughter- you have been a wonderful support to me, and have read ALL of my blogs!! jeez, you should get some award or something for that! i would include in this blog the dedication that you made at the first of my book, but i could not do it without crying again. i love you,too, sweetie.