Summer is going by so quickly and before I know it, it will be back to school time. Next week to be precise. This summer I was able to go to Minnesota to see my in-laws because my mother-in-law was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a type of blood cancer. I went with Sarah and baby Joshua and we met up with Rachael who had flown there from San Francisco. We only stayed about 4 days, but it was long enough for a nice visit and to catch up with everyone and see that my mother in law was doing well in spite of it all.
Isn't it funny that women usually end up holding up their partners emotionally and not the other way around? My in-laws have been married for 61 years and have raised 6 sons and been through good times and hard times. Somehow though, my father in law has not learned to take care of himself. His wife has been cooking, cleaning and literally dressing him, or at least putting out his clothes when she wants him dressed properly, for all these years. Therefore, he is an emotional wreck at this point. He wants to take charge and tell my MIL to take it easy and not to strain herself, but in the mean time, he doesn't have a clue in the kitchen much past boiling water. He tends to overreact to everyone and everything. Joan, my MIL, has times when she feels weaker, especially after her infusions, and times that she feels pretty good. Don, my FIL, has a really hard time distinguishing between the good times and the bad, so he overreacts by yelling at Joan and everyone else. He wants her to sit down, to not get up and go to the kitchen, to rest, to relax, but how can you rest when someone is yelling at you? On Joan's part, she simply wants to be allowed to do what she has always done, which is to determine for herself what she can and will do. I tried to have a little conversation with Don about backing off when she is feeling better, but I don't know if he can hear that right now.
I returned from Minnesota and a few days later I was off to San Francisco for 11 days to spend some time with Rachael and her husband Misha. Rachael was in the throws of fertility treatment, which I knew little about. It was very advanced and high tech with many tests, injections and oral medications to be taken in preparation for the ultimate event which is the actual embryo transplant.
