Last Day of Hanukkah

This holiday season has been a great one, despite everything. I don't think I ever got so many presents, partly because my youngest brother, Mark, and his wife, Carol, drew my name in the present lottery. They sent a box with eight presents in it for me to choose from. Every night I selected something. One of the best things about each gift was that it was accompanied by a post card with a handwritten note on it. The cards were from Key West or other warm beach locations. Did I mention Mark and Carol live in Myrtle Beach? They obviously love beaches. As Cindy always says, "Some nights are better than other," and so it was true with the gifts from Mark and Carol. Among that category were a "boxing" pen, a rubber ball paddle, foam darts, and a whoopie cushion. On the other hand, some nights were GREAT! They gave me a glass dolphin necklace, a beautiful shell/wood bracelet, and a snow globe with a picture of my Mark, me, Carol, and Mark W. from our visit to them last summer. This was fabulous and will have a place of honor in our new home when we return.

My dad and Cindy were the ones who started the Hanukkah Box phenomenon. My dad died in 1988, but he used to ship us a box with eight presents for each of us in it. Cindy has spent decades showing up at our door on Hanukkah with eight presents, numbered for each night, for all of the Silversteins. She is awesome. She continued this tradition through this holiday as well, but since we are living here with her, we decided to roll her into the Hanukkah present tradition. Mark and I had eight presents for her this year also. She wasn't our "person" from the present lottery, but we just had to be sure she was showered with gifts this year as an inadequate expression of our appreciation for the use of her house for six months.

Mark did not grow up in a house where eight presents were exchanged with every family member. He doesn't really remember getting presents from his parents, but he does remember getting chocolate gelt coins from his grandfather. When we were dating, I decided to get him eight gifts for Hanukkah, and we continued that tradition after I converted and we were married. This was a tradition that I guess we began for ourselves as newlyweds, so of course, Mark and I exchanged 8 presents with each other, and we had 8 presents to give to each of our kids. I already posted about our Hanukkah party on the second night, when Kip and Denise also brought over some gifts. Lowell and Evey sent us presents as well. Wow! This Hanukkah truly was the best ever, despite cancer, despite living in Cindy's house instead of our own, despite Evey not being here. We have been blessed with a wonderful holiday.

Yesterday we also met our friends Bev and John at a restaurant for lunch. We had a wonderful time, and the restaurant was quiet and uncrowded enough that it allowed us to sit there talking for over three and a half hours! They never asked us to leave, so it was absolutely delightful. I love feeling so healthy that this is possible.

Today I'm planning to do a little more shopping. Something Mark ordered online isn't going to come, so we're going out to hunt it down the old way. We also have one more person to buy for, so we'll do a little gift shopping as well as some grocery shopping. Lowell will be coming tonight for TV and dinner, so we need to be back in time for that. It should be another great day.

Except for the two painful days last week, this Taxol treatment has gone very well. I know that it's impossible to predict that all the infusions will go the same way, but it would be nice if they did. I know I can get through the last three chemo sessions if I only have to feel bad for two days. That's a lot better than the A/C treatments! Let's all hope this is how it goes.