I lost my voice...but I think it's back!

At GBP practice on August 12th, 2010

Yes, I lost my voice in 2010. And many of you know why. Sitting in my file, I have a half-baked blog re: my trip to Paris and Belgium in May. Then all of a sudden, triathlon/race season came up (with a blog sitting in my memory bank for Walleye Weekend and High Cliff and the Mighty Wolf)...and then our annual trip to Canada in July. And then, literally, the rug was ripped out from under me. And a violent tug to say the least. All those blogs I had wanted to write all came to a screeching halt and it was all I could do to email my friends and family updates regarding something that one never ever wishes to experience.

On July 22, 2010 - my mom, Marge Krug, was diagnosed with brain cancer. A type that takes hold in your spinal and brain fluid...an ever moving cancer. It was her breast cancer from 2002 that had come back and taken hold of her in a different part of her body. And it was a very fast moving, sinister cancer that takes no prisoners.

She lost her hearing, in both ears, within a week of being diagnosed so she spent the last weeks of her life in silence. So, you do what you need to do, we wrote in notebooks and paper and typed on laptops to communicate with her. We had people call - we would type - she would talk back to them. You do what you have to do and you find strength and resillience that you didn't know you had. We all do it. And we all will be called to do it at some point in our lives.

My mom died seven weeks after her diagnosis. In that time, that precious time, my family and I were able to say our good-byes and spend as much time with her as possible. We were there with her when she died...in her house...in the same room that my dad died in 24 years ago. It was peaceful. We don't fear death because we have come to know it so well. It is part of life...not the end of it...and my hope is that I can somehow help others when they are thrown into this Class IV rapids of life. We were given so many gifts in that 7 weeks. Amazing gifts!! And I'm not talking gifts that cost a thing. Someday, you will experience these gifts. They are thing things that helped us get thru!!

It has been almost five months since she passed. We still miss her so much. Christmas was ok. But there was a void...a BIG void. And the only reason we did so well and made it through is because ALL of our friends and family were 'thinking' of us or 'praying' for us. I know it made all the difference in the world. Without that energy, it would have been a very harsh time.

So now, so much to catch up on and I will probably go back and do a few blogs that need to be done. But not right now, right now, it's time to talk about what is right ahead of me and my sister.

We are heading to Dallas in less than two days. We are going to the Super Bowl. And we are going to celebrate a great Packer fan who is no longer here. If you don't think she'll be toasted many times down there, then you don't know Barb and I. Thank you, Mom!! We will be thinking of you often and throwing back a few cocktails in your honor. Maybe we'll even pull out the Brandy Manhattans (bleck!!).

So here's to the REAL America's team...the Green Bay Packers!! It's gonna be a great time!! Stand back and let it all happen!!