You know, hearing something like that is just a punch right in your gut. There is literally nothing you can do that will make it better for them. I mean, there are things you can DO, of course, like donate money, pray and etc. and I'm willing to do those things, but they don't feel like enough. There is nothing that you can do to take away their fear and sadness, or to make their daughter less sick. It's a very helpless, awful feeling, and I know it isn't even a fraction of what they're going through. To my knowledge, this is the first time I've personally ever known someone going through this with one of their kids.
From all reports, the little girl is doing well with her treatments, and her doctors say that there is very little chance she will need a bone marrow transplant, which is amazing news. She's just so tiny and she's going through such a hard thing. It breaks my heart for them. So, if you have an extra prayer lying around, please send it up for this little girl and her family.
Now, if you will pardon my language: Fuck Cancer.
*I say this guy is my friend, but I guess I consider him more like part of my family. He and I dated for a long time when we were in high school, and his father was my agribusiness teacher. I always felt very close to the whole family, even after he and I broke up. I've never met his wife or kids, but since they are an extension of his family, I care about them too.
2) Of course, if you if you'd like to do something, not just for this family, but for any family that might be going through something like this, you can register to become a bone marrow donor here: Delete Blood Cancer. You can order your kit and I swear, all you have to do is swab your inner cheek with a q-tip thing and mail them back. Also, in case you are a big weenie like I am, I checked, and if you get a call to donate your bone marrow, they say it's not so bad. Of course, you might be saving someone's life, so it could be worth a little pain, right?
3) OK, enough about sad stuff. Now I'm going to tell you something weird that I discovered while on vacation that I forgot to write about in my other entries. Seriously, it's a little weird. Don't judge me.
At the very edge of the surf, just under the surface of the sand, there are thousands of these little bivalves called coquina, although some people call them diggers.
You would usually just see the shells on the beach, sometimes just one half of the thing, but if the shells are still attached, they look like butterflies. That's not really important, just interesting!
If you dig in the wet sand after a wave has just receded, you can uncover literally hundreds of live coquina at a time. If you watch them, they will all turn on their edge and begin digging their way back underneath the surface until they disappear. It's actually really interesting to watch, if you've never seen it before. One day while I was walking on the beach, I stopped to stand in the waves, and I started digging my feet down beneath the sand. I didn't realize so many of the little things were down there at the time, so I was surprised when I uncovered them and saw them moving. I was kind of fascinated when I realized they were digging back underneath the sand, so I stood still and watched them go. My feet were still buried in the sand, and when they dug down far enough to reach them (my feet,) I felt them trying to dig through me. For all the world, it felt like a million little tongues licking my feet. It was gross and funny all at the same time. Of course, I made everyone else do it too. I'm not a big fan of anything bothering my feet, but if you ever get a chance to do this, please do!
4) I had a bad day on Tuesday. Not a truly terrible day, as I have had much, much worse, but it was a bad day all the same. By the time work was over, I was feeling so uptight that I needed to do something, anything, that wasn't a part of my usual routine so that I could reboot. That might not make much sense to some of you, but I think it'll make perfect sense to others. I had to go to Target and pick up a prescription, so on my way there I saw a Sally's Beauty supply store and went in. I decided I'd just dye my hair. I went straight towards the Manic Panic section, because I didn't want to be sensible. I really, honestly, almost bought turquoise dye, dress code rules at my job be damned, but I didn't. I was having a bad day, not a midlife crisis. I figured that I'd just buy red and see how that went, so I grabbed Infra Red. I figured it was dark enough that it wouldn't be too obvious, but it was unnatural enough to satisfy whatever weirdness I was feeling at that moment. Plus, it wasn't permanent, so if I regretted it, I wouldn't have to regret it for months!
Boy, I don't sound very rebellious when I lay it all out like that, but I don't care. I just wanted to make myself a little different!
You're supposed to bleach your hair almost white before putting this stuff in, but I wasn't going to do that. I knew I'd probably burn all my hair off if I did, plus, I'd look terrible as a pinky-blonde once the dye came out! So I did my other errands and came home to do this thing.
The dye was the consistency and color of coagulated blood, and you are supposed to try to keep it off of your skin and scalp, because it will stain you. I put some Vaseline around my hairline and ears, but it was impossible to keep it off of my scalp, and my arms, and my face and my bathroom. It got everywhere! I probably didn't need to put the entire container on my head, but I did. I didn't even use the brush I bought to do it with! Then I had to wrap my head in plastic and leave it for a couple of hours. I was very attractive. I had a Piggly Wiggly bag wrapped around my hair and then had to wrap my whole head with Saran Wrap. When the time was up, I went in to wash it out.
By the time I was done, my bathroom looked like an abattoir. If the dye looked like coagulated blood in the container, it looked like fresh blood as I washed it out. I need to reiterate: It. Got. Everywhere. I kept rinsing my hair, and it kept coming out! I ruined two perfectly good towels! It stained the tub a little, too. However, once I got it out and dried my hair, I loved it! You can't really tell much of a difference unless you see me in bright light, but it's a dark cherry color. They also weren't kidding about it being temporary! Every time I wash my hair, it looks like weak Kool-Aid washing down the drain, my current pillowcase will never be the same, and when I went to the gym, the color started melting onto the white gym towel! Oops. :)
Anyway, I felt much better after I saw my hair, and the day was over. It'll eventually fade out, so no harm, no foul. The only thing that will stick around will probably be my gray hair that got dyed. Right now, all of them are a bright Ronald McDonald red! That will probably look weird when the rest of my hair is brown again.
Next time, maybe I'll do the turquoise. It'll depend on how bad my day is! :)
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