Adieu 2024

The sweetest days I get to enjoy are ones with beloved family and friends and these past three weeks have been brimming over with those moments! 

To start, in Florida my granddaughter and I built a gingerbread house in which she enjoyed fist fulls of frosting more than the construction of the house! We also oooo’d and ahhhhh’d at all the wild primates swinging around in the Zoo! Observing them from a little river cruise boat created a unique experience and one that she squealed with such joy to see them. 

Then there was the Walk A Mile For Her Smile event for my dear friends, the Owen Family, as they honored their daughter Erica at the 10 year anniversary of her passing with a silent auction fund raiser, mile long walk around North Park and John got to be Santa yet again for the kids.  Arriving on a Harley with his elf buddy, Jeff P was as much fun for John as it was for the children! In fact, this year he has volunteered as Santa for several events. One of them I even opted to don a Mrs. Claus suit!!

 

We had the opportunity to go to St. Louis and while there we spent a few nights with my friend and former Sister-in-law, Debbie and her hubby, Randy. She and I hiked, laughed and shared the goodness of God in our lives!! I might have beat them all in a hilarious game of Mexican Train Dominos too!! So grateful for our continued friendship after all these decades! She is such a gifted artist and she’s very modest about her talent but I’d love to highlight it here. 

 

We also saw friends from the stair building association John’s affiliated with. Robin and Chas treated us to a St. Louis Blues hockey game and dinner following another Santa event John had. It’s truly amazing how many genuine friendships have come from his professional trade association!

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY!! John and I hit 12 years on 12/12/24 and I’m speechless at the goodness of God toward me. It was only 2.5 years ago when I received the devastating news of a stage 4 metastatic breast cancer! A recurrence with only a 3-5 year prognosis. One of my goals in 2022 was to hit my 10 year anniversary and now look at us!!! Twelve years and going stronger every day! We went back to Hocking Hills State Park where we celebrated our honeymoon!

En Route to Christmas at my parents in Rockford, IL we popped in at dear cousins, Todd and Pam Parmenter’s for an overnight visit. I just love it that because of our Key family reunions as kids Todd, Pam and I remain so close to this day. Todd and I share the same great grandparents who left England with 6 of their eventual 15 children, crossing the Atlantic Ocean with hopes of a better life in America! They would be so blessed to know that we maintain family ties with such sweet fondness and intentionality. I also let Todd severely beat me in Mexican Train dominos because he hates to lose!! 😂 

Then on to Rockford, IL and not only did I get in 1 workout and 3 hikes with family, but I attended my niece’s Golden birthday on December 23rd, saw Christmas light displays, played the White Elephant game, and cooked a healthy meal for Christmas with my sister, Melissa! Getting another year with my parents and sisters as we all age gracefully is our gift and being with so many family members brought lots of laughter and no drama…another reason to celebrate besides the truest reason that I am grateful for this year is to remember the birth of the world’s Messiah!

Finally, I conclude my last blog of 2024 with a final photo and video after getting yet another infusion to treat my stage 4 NED (No Evidence of Disease) breast cancer! I’m looking forward to 2025 with another successful 17 infusions in my future and anticipating the birth of another grandchild soon! It’s my hope that our WonderVan will be completed and John and I will be living full time in it! It is my greatest wish and God’s will that ALL will come to Him, praising His holy name and feeling grateful for another year to share in His goodness!

Lots of Thankfulness

These beautiful faces are my dearest friend’s kiddos that we get the privilege of doing life with!! LillyMae and Zoey joined me in hand painting our Christmas cards and Ever got to go on a wintery hike with me, then we followed up with one of our favorite traditions, making what I call “Baked Children”, aka gingerbread men!!

I treasure every first snowfall as it’s one of my favorite days of the year even if it’s only a light dusting! This is at my special bench in Patricia Allyn Park where others have seen fit to relish in the sanctity of it by adding a stick cross and wind chime. I welcome it and am grateful others have discovered this little slice of heaven on earth in Ohio. 

Thanksgiving this year we drove to Rockford, IL again as tradition has it and although my Dad was suffering in physical pain, I was blessed that he joined us for dinner as my siblings and other family members came together for another holiday with loved ones. Also very glad my sissy, Melissa, eats like me and we had a harvest green and grain bowl as our Thanksgiving meal sans Turkey, buttery potatoes and sugary yams!!! 

Lys took me on a couple frigid early morning hikes in northern Illinois and fed me WFPB breakfast which I GREATLY appreciated! However, I will share and confess that I did gleefully indulge in a small piece of cherry pistachio panettone (that beautiful holiday bread I accidentally spent $95!!!!!! on from Dan-the-baker in Columbus, OH)!

While the weekend could have included my Boylan High School 40th class reunion, I opted instead to spend every moment with those with whom I hold dearest and only get to see a couple times a year… my family…

and one of my favorite humans on earth…WT! (You know who you are 😉). I was able to sip fresh herbal tea grown lovingly in her organic garden and I added a non-WFPB splash of her perfectly harvested fresh goat milk, which I’ve have dubbed Liquid Gold. Oh, to just sit in the peaceful serenity of her home, reminiscing, dreaming, learning and laughing: it is like a healing balm to an old friend’s soul! 

I was informed that one of my cousins, Judy Parmenter, was really getting quite frail and I was thrilled that John and I got to stop by and visit with her. She’s 93!! Our families familiarity and love for each other goes way back! I’m so grateful the Key clan had family reunions with the OG 15 siblings and their offspring as I was growing up! Judy’s grandparents are my great grandparents!! Does that make her my first cousin once removed? Or second cousin?? That would be something my sister Karen could answer. I spent many a Sunday dinner at Judy’s table while in college. She and her family provided a rich and spiritual home during my early 20s and I will forever be grateful for the deposits of security and family love I received from them. Family is a gift from God and Judy has always held a very special place in my heart. 

The WonderVan progress is coming along slowly but surely.  This week I applied a final finish clear coat on our veneer panels for the closet and bathroom walls. John’s engineering the shower pan and it hurts my brain to think of all the puzzle pieces he’s putting together to fabricate this all from scratch.

Tasks completed this week.. I got out the few Christmas postcards I painted this year. Here’s a sampling of a few of them. What a joy to pick up my water color paints again. The Bible verse from Isaiah 7:14 was the theme of the cards this year. 

Lastly, it’s been 3 weeks since my last infusion at The James and here I was getting my usual Herceptin and Perjeta. This day also started the first of 6 iron infusions for increasing my iron. Dr Johnson hopes that will address my frequent Charlie horses since my electrolytes are always normal.