going "home"

They say Home is where the heart is... and with all that happened with my dad, my heart wanted to be in Utah near him and the rest of my family.

I feel very lucky to be married to the man I am. He is VERY good to me. He knew I was hurting and having a hard time so he took over my blog and said the very words I couldn't. Then he rubbed my feet and held me as I cried and told me we would do whatever I needed to do. What I needed was to go home. So he packed up all his study materials and work stuff and after weeks of staying up way too late drove us to from Cali to Provo. He drove the entire 10 hours and it was around 3am when we finally arrived. The goal was to get there so I could go see my dad before he went in for surgery #3. I am so grateful for my hubby!

As soon as I decided that I needed to go "home" I began to feel lighter. I went to the Temple with my friend Teresa (thank you, again). I appreciated her support and the peaceful feeling that comes with being in the Temple and praying there. I felt peace and comfort that everything would go smoothly for my dad this time and that "home" is exactly where I needed to be.

It's hard to explain the range of emotions I felt when I saw my dad for the first time. So many different things were there all at once. Relief he was alive and smiling, joy to hug and kiss him, fear that we could have lost him, and anxiety as he was getting ready to go into surgery again. But there was peace too. Peace and Joy as I sat in the room with my parents, grandmother and siblings. I felt stronger just being there.

Surgery seemed to take FOREVER,I'm so glad we had each other to keep busy. Just under 3 hours later the doctor came to talk to us. He said it went smoothly, dad was awake and talking, they removed a second growth and it was larger then the first one. It's hard to believe my dad had two orange sized growths growing in his neck. Then two days later he was home. HOME! He still has to do iodine radiation in a few weeks but he's growing stronger and wishing he could do more then he's suppose to.

I'm glad I was there. I'm glad Rich came with me. I'm glad that my papa bear is doing better :) I loved my alone time with my dad walking next to him around the halls of the hospital and then later around the neighborhood. It felt good to serve my parents, clean their house, fix them a meal, and any other little thing that they asked. Our kids love it there because grandma and grandpa have a "big" house with a big yard and a swing set. Our house is little and they are very aware of the size difference. So to my parents, thank you! Thank you for letting us come and crash in your basement. For allowing us to be near and help, while also hindering a bit by adding little feet, toys and a bit of chaos that always seems to come with us.