When I think my life’s hit a bump in the road, I know there’s always someone else whose life has hit a pot hole. Some, even sink holes.

Like the young housewife and her infant children who lost husband and father, when he smashed head-on into the back of a city bus while driving to work. Natashia Henderson is a teacher on maternity leave. Her third child is due in June or July. Donations for her husband’s funeral as well as support for the family can be made at http://www.youcaring.com/memorial-fundraiser/in-memory-of-glenn-henderson/331230. 

How my sister-in-law Pat has lived with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis for almost a year is hard for me to fathom. Even my daughter who just went through her own personal hell, can’t imagine how her aunt weathers the constant storm brewing inside her body. How does she do it? Not very easily, I’m sure.

Physically, Pat says she has no complaints. A little fatigue now and then, especially after chemotherapy. Personally…I think Pat complains very little, if ever. 

Pat still has difficulty chewing; her back molars no longer work. In fact, her dentist recommends removing them. The way Pat tells it you’d think it was no big deal. But, of course, it is. It’s just that she’s been living without the ability to chew for a while, ever since her diseases took hold. 

No chewing means resorting to baby food. Well, maybe not Gerber’s, but pretty close. Few adults could live on pablum and love it. I know of none.

Losing a few pounds is one thing. Losing 20-30 pounds when you’re not really trying is scary. At least to those of us who love Pat.

I enjoy making Pat laugh…even when I’m not trying. What I’ve never heard her do…is cry. 

Why shouldn’t she cry, considering what she’s living with? I would. Then again…I cry every time I see An Affair to Remember…starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

Pat and Brad are making a quick stopover in Seattle this weekend, en route to The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I can’t wait to hug her skinny body and make her laugh until her belly aches. I want to catch up on all the little things left unsaid in emails and phone calls. In short, I’d like to mother Pat, allowing her to relax into the loving care and concern of one who’s lived longer. 

I’m not wiser, I’m just more inclined to…

…hug…and never stop hugging.

………hugmamma.