update on my bil

I wanted to mention to those of you who prayed for my BIL that he recently had his 6-month PET scan for his stage III oral cancer and as of right now, he is CANCER FREE! The last six months have been harrowing, yet at the same time oddly touching as you see your loved ones and their kids face issues of life and death head on. In most ways, I’ve never felt so helpless. You’re brought to your knees and that’s just where you stay.

My BIL will likely have permanent side effects from the pinpoint radiation to his tongue. Saliva for one. You never think about how much you need it until you don’t have it, he says. He has a 7-inch scar on his neck from where they took the lymph nodes, but we just joke that he looks like he came out on the winning side of a knife fight in TJ. My nephews have been amazing almost-men standing stalwart for their dad and niece Piper, as you all know, is a love. The sweetest girl in the world. Her compassion and sensitivity are just unusual — beyond what you’d ever expect — in a 10-year-old girl. My sister is a rock. I can’t even talk about her without bawling. A rock.

But thank you, thank you, thank you, pippa. Thank you for the emails, the offers of help, the prayers, your true blue hearts.

You really can feel when people are praying.