"To days of inspiration, playing hooky,
Making something out of nothing,The need to express to communicate,
To going against the grain, going insane, going mad."
I know I waited far too long to update this blog. A lot has been going on and I've been tired. I'm totally gonna play the sick card as my excuse for just being lazy.
My Boston (and the surrounding vacation in Cleveland) trip was amazing, moving, heartbreaking.
I flew to Cleveland on Wednesday. On my way to my sister's house, I stopped at my grandmother's house. Seeing how heartbroken she is over my diagnosis brought me to tears. It was a very emotional visit but much needed. I felt loved and appreciated and that is something I have rarely felt within my family. Don't get me wrong, my family has always meant well. However, their way of showing it left something to be desired (and then some). After I left my grandmothers house, I picked up my sister at her place and we went out to our mother's house. I can't tell you how happy I was to see my dog (and how happy he was to see me!). It's been six months now since I had to take him back to Ohio. Six very long, saddening months. But that will soon change. Our friend, Missy, took in one of our cats so I can have my dog here (stupid 2 pet limit at the condo here!). I want him here. No, I need him here. Soon enough...soon enough... Anyway... back to the recap of my trip. :)
My sister and I had decided we would leave early Thursday morning for Boston, arriving there late Thursday night. Our father and brother decided to surprise us and meet us at Elizabeth's house to bring us coffee and breakfast. I think it was hard for my dad to see me bald. He is not one to ever show emotion, he likes to pretend he's tough and hard. But, I know I saw him almost crack when he saw me in my current state. It was hard for me to see him hurting. I've not seen my dad cry often. I can still remember David's funeral like it was yesterday. For those that don't know, David is my cousin. Him and his girlfriend died in a car accident when we were all 16. My dad stood there outside the funeral home a complete mess repeating over and over "That could've been my daughter. That could've been my baby." And now here he is, potentially facing burying his daughter. His baby girl. Truth be told, I was dreading going home for this very reason. I didn't want to cause my family pain in seeing the reality of my illness. We got past the emotional state though and my sister and I started our journey.
We had made plans ahead of time to stop and visit two of our cousins who were vacationing in upstate New York for lunch. Our lunch ended up being about two hours long but it was so worth it. It had been a long time since we'd seen Sherri and Marie and it was lovely to get to catch up on a few years of our lives. The rest of the drive to Boston was rather uneventful. Just long. Really really long. It was around 10pm when we arrived at the hotel and Rachel arrived shortly afterwards. Timing couldn't have been better really seeing as we were coming from different directions and all. I introduced Rachel and Elizabeth, we all chatted and caught up and then eventually passed out knowing we had a busy day ahead of us on Friday.
Friday, during the day, was spent wandering around Boston, navigating the public transportation system, seeing the Science Museum and taking lots of pictures. Then, it was time for the main reason we were there. Rent.
Michael had said he'd meet us by the theater so we were waiting in the general vicinity. Michael had a few of his friends with him. It was nice to put a face to the names of people I'd heard about. Brady, Brady, Tori, Elizabeth, Rachel, Michael and I all did our introductions and said hi and what not. Then we went into the show and they went off to do their own thing. Oh, I should go back and say that my sister had never seen Rent before this trip in any form. (Though she did watch the movie countless times on the 12 hour car ride to Boston so she knew the story by the time we got there.) Rachel had seen the movie but never the live show. The show was amazing and that's a complete understatement. I should break out my thesaurus so I can use more appropriate adjectives. I felt so blessed to have had the chance to share the experience with my sister. Given how dear it is to me, I wanted her to know it too. After the show we chatted with Michael while Anthony signed autographs at the stage door and then started our adventure back to our hotel.
Saturday morning we awoke and debated what to do when I was offered two tickets to see Rent that night by a friend who obviously loves me very much. So, we bought Rachel a ticket too and then the three of us wandered around downtown until it was time for the show that night. We met up with Michael again briefly before the show and then chatted with him after the show while Anthony did the stage door thing again. Rachel took a picture of Michael and I because I always fail at remembering to take pictures of anything.
I have more to say but I'm going to make it another post as this one is long enough already!
