Bald = BRAVE

Liz went in for a short haircut last night. Turns out her intuition was right about visiting her favorite stylist (and thanks to her dear friend Sarah who offered to go with Liz) -- her hair really started to fall out after the wash. So she went for it and shaved it all off. Don't tell her that it's OK, it will grow back, it's just hair. Do notice how beautiful her eyes are, how she glows, how strong and resolute she is, how she is exactly the same person you know and love. I am especially impressed with the perfect shape of her head.

As our friend Colette said of her husband Eric: "In our house, bald = BRAVE."

Colette also forwarded us a blog post from their cancer journey about how terrible chemo is. Embedded in the comments was a special insight from my beautiful wife, written at the time to our friends:

"...sometimes it's not about how fast you finish, it's about simply getting to the finish line."

Brilliant. And she wasn't talking about my aerobic conditioning. But no offense, me lady -- I wouldn't mind it if we get through this fast and you heal quickly.

Happy Birthday to Liz!

I took Cohen and Jensen to Target last night to pick up presents for mom. Each boy picked a hat and a scarf (Jensen's were both "ooh, my favorite color" blue). Cohen looked at every piece of jewelry at least 3 times before carefully selecting what he determined were the perfect earrings ("they'll be beautiful on her ears") and a necklace with a heart on it ("so she knows that I love her"). Jensen picked a necklace that I guided him to select (!), and he picked out a bracelet ("it's blue").

When Liz came home last night wearing a gifted ballcap, Cohen gave her a big hug, told her she looked like a dad, realized it came across wrong, then showered her with compliments about her beauty and how much he loves her. Jensen wasn't afraid, but he wouldn't kiss her right away. He did give her a hug. Remember, he's the kid who wouldn't touch her "scary hands" for 2 weeks when she got new leopard-print gloves last Winter. Eli could care less about the hair -- he can't ever get enough of Mom.

This morning the boys gave her their gifts. They were so happy to give jewelry and hugs. Jensen keeps asking when her hair will grow back. But otherwise, it was a 'cancer normal' morning.

Heading to work, tonight going to the movies with the beautiful birthday girl.

We got a package in the mail yesterday from a good friend at work. Nice logo on the Mrs. Fields cookie tin.

This is representative of the love and care shown by so many through so many gifts, messages, moments of service, prayers, play dates (for the boys, not for me)... Thank you all for helping us in our attempts to live a "peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Timothy 2:2) while going through overwhelming challenges. As Cohen said in his prayer last night, "Please help me memember all the fings I know to help me not be worried and to help mom to feel better."

Go Team Liz.

Happy Birthday!