It was evident that Diane and Tom had touched many, many lives. The wake for Diane was on Friday, and to see a line out the door of the funeral home with people waiting for as much as an hour and a half to talk to Tom and Debbie. Well that was just amazing to see.

The funeral was held on Saturday, that was hard for everyone. Tom was doing very well up to that.. He was good at the wake, but I could tell that this was going to be a very hard day. Diane was laid to rest in the plot is right next to her daughter Cindy.

I talked to Tom last Thursday, the cancer is back. Tom and Diane thought they had turned a corner with the bone marrow transplant, but the cancer is just too aggressive. They had a meeting with her oncologist yesterday, Tuesday, and he broke the horrible news to them that my lovely sister-in-law has but 1-2 months left in this fight. When Tom called last week, I think everyone in the family had the same idea that if the end would come we would have more time to say our goodbye. No one would have guessed that her time with us would be less than 2 months.

When I talked to Tom he sounded beat, I cannot imagine what he is going through. I feel so helpless living a thousand miles from them. He is going through one of the most stressful times in his life and there is nothing I can do to help him.

Mom, I am at the wrong airport. I was suppose to fly out of Raleigh NC, but I am at the wrong airport in Charlotte NC and it is a 3 hour drive and my flight leaves in about 2 hours.

..and with that, we started trying to arrange her flight in Raleigh without it costing her an arm and a leg. She eventually drove to Raleigh and paid the smallish fee to change her flight and got to Des Moines late Friday evening. But she will never live this down.

9-12 We have some good news today. The results of the bone marrow biopsy is back and it did NOT show any cancer cells. So right now it is a waiting game for her counts to come up. She will still get some outpatient Chemo I believe that will be over some months and I am not sure how often she will need to come in to receive it. The prayers you have prayed has helped. Thanks.

That is a relief for everyone in our family. Since Diane was put in the hospital, Tom has spent every waking moment with her. I pray with outpatient Chemo, things will get back to normal in the family.

Our conversation was dominated with talk of Diane and Tom. Tom has been spending most of his time at the hospital. He told mom that Diane is having good days and bad days… Sunday was a bad day. The type of leukemia Diane has is called Acute myeloid leukemia, she will be in the hospital for the next 3-4 weeks. Tom created a page at CaringBridge so family and friends can communicate with Diane while she is in the hospital.

Since we have the ticket to Des Moines, we are going to use them to be with my brother and sister in law. I feel that there is really nothing I can do than just be there. Maybe that is all that is needed.. just to be there.

Because of this my niece has decided to postpone her wedding until Nov 22. So we are scrambling around to change flights and hotel rooms and paying the stupid fees to the airlines to do this. I can’t say it is unexpected, I would have been very surprised if the wedding was not postponed. Right now we are leaning toward keeping the flight to KC on the 18th then driving to the wedding in November. The airlines want way too much money to change flights.

I talked to Mom last night and she told me that Diane was admitted to the hospital and would be there for the next month. That was a surprise that they would admit her so soon and for such a long time. This is putting all too much pressure on my brother’s family because my niece’s wedding is just 3-4 weeks away. Right now, everything is up in the air.

Well let me tell you what’s been going on in the life of our family.
There’s been a few changes. Scotty started a new job with a company called Bantu about two month ago. He is no longer with AOL. He is still adjusting to the civilian/military world again and the bureaucracy that goes along with it. His commute is now about 10 miles shorter which will save on gas.

Erika spent this week here with us. She goes back tomorrow. She is on the hunt for a full-time teaching job so she can begin to enjoy her after-college life.

Amanda is beginning her sophmore year in college. She is transferring to Liberty this upcoming semester where she plans to pursue a Marketing/Business Bachelor’s Degree.

Nothing much is going on in my life. I still enjoy my job very much. Summer is my favorite time of the year. I love to sit outdoors and enjoy the weather. I know some of you are thinking that I’m probably nuts, but what can I say. I absolutely, hate too much cold weather. I think I’m allergic to winter.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable 4th of July.