I’m writing from Holden Beach, where I somewhat spontaneously brought the kids (sans Anne) for a long weekend stay with the Kirby family, dear friends of ours who possess three wonderful things:

1. A beach house
2. Sweet kids of almost identical ages to mine
3. The gift of hospitality

We’ve had a big time kayaking, boogie boarding, and playing in the sand.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Anne has enjoyed some quiet downtime, even seizing opportunities to do a few gratifying projects before chemotherapy starts on Tuesday.  Yesterday she popped me a picture of her just-completed organization project for our little playroom with the caption: “AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”

Here’s my non-earth-shattering ephiphane: Cancer – aka the thief – has a way of sapping your joy without you even knowing it. One of the antidotes is doing normal, fun stuff.  Or, to borrow a song title from the late-80s hip-hop group Digital Underground, there are times that you simply gotta “doowutchyalike.”

I know. Profound.

Ninjas, Knife, Napalm. That’s the sequence of Anne’s KCA treatment plan. Especially pray for her this Tuesday. First chemo treatment lasts eight hours. I can’t even sleep for eight hours, so the fact that my wife will have to sit with a poison drip for that long is beyond me.

Some fun pictures…