Mom and Dad's 70th wedding anniversary

Today is my parents' 70th wedding anniversary and we have been celebrating all week! The first event took place on Monday evening at Barb and Buddy's home with all of the Bolerjack family.

Both of Barb and Buddy's sons and their families live here in Oklahoma City and Mom and Dad are thrilled to be able to see some of their grandchildren and adorable great grandchildren at least once a week!! Up until this move, they have never lived near their grown children, so this is a huge blessing!!

At noon today, Mom and Dad were honoured at Tealridge, the Retirement Community where they live. These two pictures were taken in the lobby of their "home".

Mom is doing remarkably well and has no obvious symptoms yet of her cancer. She will have her blood checked next week to see if a transfusion is needed. She and Dad are relying on the Lord for strength to face whatever lies ahead and enjoying every day that He gives them together. They both tire quite easily, which is understandable given their ages!!

Barbie is flying down here on August 30th and will spend ten days with us. She hasn't seen her grandma and grandpa for almost three years and has never been to OK before. I'm looking SO forward to her coming. When she goes home to Regina, I will fly home to White Rock and plan to be there for at least three weeks, possibly longer. It will be great to be home again. I think that I'm feeling Bob's absence even more these days because he was never here with me in OK and I am so far removed from our shared life together and our wonderful network of friends in BC.

Tomorrow is Bob and my 44th wedding anniversary. Earlier this week I was dreading the prospect of this significant day, but am feeling much better as the day approaches--trying to focus my thoughts on the blessing of having shared so many years with him. Good memories are a precious gift--and I have plenty!!--including our anniversary two years ago, just a few months after Bob's cancer and kidney failure were diagnosed.

Down in Oklahoma

I've been here in Oklahoma City with my family for almost a week now. It's been so good to be with Mom and Dad and also my sister Barb and her husband Buddy. We now know more about the nature of Mom's cancer and have been informed of possible options for treatment and have come to a decision regarding those options.

On Thursday, all of us met with a surgeon and found out that Mom has "Duodenal Cancer" and that the tumor has NOT spread to any other organ!! It is localized in her duodenum, but may have affected some surrounding lymph nodes, something that surgery would reveal. It would be medically possible for Mom to undergo this very major surgery to remove the tumor, but at 90 years old we don't think that would be wise. The surgeon also suggested a lesser but still major surgical procedure that would make her more comfortable as the disease progresses--when her ability to eat and eliminate her food will become difficult. However we have decided against that as well.

We deliberated as a family and prayed about this decision and came to a unanimous agreement within hours, and all of us have such peace. The surgeon has given Mom a prognosis of about a year without surgery, but her times are in God's hands!! And the lovely Christian Retirement Community where Mom and Dad live want to do all that they can to enable them to stay there with extra home-care assisting when Mom needs it. And Barb and I are committed to spending as much time as possible with them in this next year.

Considering that Mom is 90 years old and has had many health challenges in recent years and now has cancer, she looks AMAZING, as this picture taken at noon today shows!!

I'm unsure when I will return home to White Rock, but will be there for sure by mid-September, as I've been asked to work for a week at the Notary Public office where I worked for so many years. This will help finance some of my travels!!

I'm still living in the "afterglow" of having all of our children and grandchildren with me in late July. We had a wonderful experience the last afternoon that we were together when we visited Bob's grave. The grandchildren were so sweet and enjoyed gathering tiny wildflowers (some were weeds I'm sure!) amongst the grass and setting them on Bob's temporary grave marker.

We all joined hands and prayed and when I said "Amen", one of our grandsons so excitedly said, "Nana, I had a vision while you were praying--that Papa came down from the clouds and kissed you on your cheek and went back up to heaven!!" Wow!! Later we questioned him a bit more about his "vision" asking whether it was just a thought that he had when I was praying or a vivid picture, and he replied that it was REAL and that the clouds parted and Papa came down in a bright yellow light and kissed me on the cheek and went back up to heaven--and that he was wearing a black sweater, tan pants, and that he was wearing his glasses and that he is still bald!!!

Now we almost expect something quite dramatic to happen when we pray at Papa's grave. At Bob's burial service on March 22nd, when Pastor Brian said "Amen" at the end of his prayer of committal, there was a single loud clap of thunder--and no rain!!! The grandchildren in particular were absolutely certain that God was in the thunder welcoming Papa into heaven!! The Lord assures us in so many ways that He is with us and that He loves us.

Summer fun with the family

All of our children and grandchildren spent between one and two weeks with me this month and we had a wonderful time. We had three days away together at Cedar Springs last week, just south of Abbotsford in the foothills of Mt. Baker. Vi and Jerry joined us as well as Lois and Duane's daughter Anita.

Of course the kids love going to the beach here in White Rock. They all left yesterday to return home with plans percolating of spending Christmas together in Regina.

While we were at Cedar Springs, we received news that my mom has been diagnosed with a malignant tumour in her abdomen!! What a shock that has been, especially with all that we've been through as a family this year. She had a CT scan on Friday to determine whether the cancer has metastasized to any other organs and when the extent of the cancer has been determined, the doctor will talk to the family about options. Consequently I'm flying down to Oklahoma City tomorrow morning for an indefinite period of time.

Mom and Dad's spirits are good and Mom is home from the hospital and feeling pretty well. The doctor thinks that she's likely had this tumour for some time. It was discovered when she was hospitalized for anemia, and since she's received a few pints of blood, she's been feeling much better. All of the family have an appointment with a surgeon on Thursday, but at 90 years old, Mom doesn't want any aggressive treatment.

My folks will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on August 21st, so I anticipate that I may still be there to celebrate with them.

I'm feeling pretty tired right now and need to finish packing and get to bed. I have more to share about the time with the kids, but will wait until I'm down in OK to give more details and of course report on how Mom's doing.

We appreciate your continued prayers for us all.

The family at Lake Chautauqua

Since the boys were finished with school, we were able to take a couple of day trips to Buffalo and also Lake Chautauqua where this picture was taken.

Billy, Manny, and Papa

Here are Billy and Manny with their special pictures of Papa with each of them.

With David, Ann and the boys

From ON, I went down to Fredonia, NY (near Buffalo) where David and Ann live and had a wonderful time.

Ann's parents drove me down from Toronto and we had a lovely visit together and were able to attend a concert where David was playing a concerto with a chamber orchestra.

With the Woodford cousins

My next stop was at Jim and Nora's cottage near London where all of the Woodford cousins gathered for a couple of days.

Bruce & Judy, Jim & Nora, David, me, and Heather & John