Dad Update: 12/2/2013

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I still can't believe it's already December- which means radiation treatment will be ending soon! With the Thanksgiving holidays, we only had radiation and speech therapy a few days last week- but of course Lar made sure we did speech therapy at home. He is the strongest and most determined person I've ever met- so blessed that this man is my Dad. We spent most of Friday and Saturday putting up Christmas decorations and cleaning out the garage- and in true Lar form, he was involved in it all. Thanksgiving being spent at home, surrounded by the ones I love the most, and WAY too much food was just perfect. This year Thanksgiving had an entirely new meaning of being thankful- thankful for my family, friends and this small town I live in. 

There is something to be said about living in a small town, and sometimes I don't think you really appreciate your small town until you move away. After spending over 2 years in Austin, I couldn't be happier to be back home. Austin was never really "home" to me, as I never changed my room at my parents, much less my address. I still can't get over how things just work out, as I put in my two weeks notice at EY in Austin on Friday, October 4 and planned to move to Brenham/College Station for a job at Texas A&M- and on Saturday, October 5 Dad had a seizure. I like to tell Mom that coincidence is just God's way of remaining anonymous. But through it all this small town, this small community, has been unbelievable to my family. It completely blows my mind when people stop me and ask about my Dad and what they can do to help. When I thank people for asking about him, I truly mean it. Big cities are great, and there are lots of opportunities there- but I wouldn't trade my town for anything. I remember at 18 I told my Mom I would NEVER live in Brenham- well, I guess never say never. 

As I write these posts about Dad and his progress, I'm usually in a good place- which is why they are mainly positive and "looking at the bright side", but know that this isn't always how it is for myself or my family. There are moments where I just cry and stress about the future- the unknown. But I can honestly say the thoughts and prayers, knowing people are thinking about him helps to calm this. I'm so blessed with such a great group of friends and support system that listen to me as I cry about it all-when I know there is nothing they can say or do to make it better. I don't know how many times people have told me I'm different, that something is different. Well, it has a lot to do with moving back home, the situation with my Dad, and realizing that the day of the seizure, that was the day I made myself promise to live more from intention and less from habit.