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| Hugh and I met in 1997, but we didn't marry until September 2010. |
I haven't written since I returned home from Dad's house in Virginia in April, because life was pretty hectic around home. It was good to be back with my husband, Hugh, and daughter, Cora, and we all were pretty busy. I was hired by a travel publication to write an itinerary about our town, my husband and I were working the local farmers' market, he was fixing up the house a bit, and he was anxious to get back on that school bus as a driver. I was so tickled about how much he loved driving that bus after holding down jobs that had him traveling the world.
While I was at Dad's house, Hugh finally scheduled a colonoscopy for himself. He couldn't get an appointment until the end of June, and the doctor called to cancel that appointment and to reschedule for July 6th. Hugh and I never discussed the colonoscopy, other than the fact that I planned to have one later in the year. I was happy he scheduled, as he was older than me and he delayed that procedure as long as he could.
The day of the colonoscopy, Hugh said, "I'm afraid they're going to find something." When I looked at him, he told me that he had been bleeding for the past few weeks. My heart sunk, but I had enough experience with mom to know that I didn't need to get morose about this news. Instead, I told him that we could handle anything they found.
What they found was a tumor about the size of New York. When I saw the images that July 6th morning, I felt as though I had been hit upside the head with a 2x4. Fortunately, I was sitting, as all the emotions I had when I first learned about Mom's cancer returned, only twice as large.