Maggie and Kate swimming at Phelps Lake. We could not keep them out of the water!
It has been a month since I have written in my blog. Life is busy and full but I so miss the process of writing my thoughts and reflecting on them. In the near future, my time will even be more limited than it is now as I am going back to Skyline High School to teach, half-time, just as I was when the breast diagnoses came. I will continue being the director over the Tennis & Tutoring program and looking forward to involving my high school students in the program. So this week, in addition to everything that needed to be done to prepare for the wedding, I am getting my room back in order at Skyline, perusing each file and trying to organize so that I can hop back into this teaching role as seamless as possible. The best part about going back to teaching is that I will have an aid, Ann Jensen, mother to my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Katie. I am also excited to work with these students who have an amazing capacity to serve many populations, give of their time freely and mentor others. I love the curriculum too and am previewing videos on bullying, media’s influence on girls and one on an amazing woman who was as brave as you could be during the holocaust and because of her bravery, she saved hundreds of children from starvation and death.
With all this going on in my life, I am so grateful to be alive and when I saw Dr. Nibley, my oncologist, this week, I was happy to leave the cancer clinic feeling healthy and strong and with a healthy dose of hair on my head. I reflected as I watched people come into the clinic about how fortunate I am. There are so many sad stories out there and spending just a half-hour in the clinic should make anyone feel so happy about their own situation and it should also be a kick-in-the-butt to others about taking life and health for granted. You would do about anything you could to get your health back when you are diagnosed with cancer but then there are so many people walking around unhappy, unwilling to take the reigns of their life, willing to complain but not willing to do the actions it takes to get their lives in order. It must be so frustrating for God who sees the big picture! And I know that I could be doing more and doing it better but I feel pretty good about working hard at the things that I love in life like being a Grandma and being a teacher and being a tennis player and runner and being a wife and mother and having all these interests that I have to prioritize because my life is packed full of awesome things that I want to do!
Which leads me to the next part of my blog- the sacredness of Grand Teton National Park. You really don’t get it if you don’t spend time up there or if you don’t have any place in nature that is sacred to you, that strengthens your resolve in life, that fill up your empty bucket, that makes you stop, awestruck each time you look at its scenery! If you don’t have a place like this, you need to find one. It has been an extremely stressful year with Joe’s company and the Tetons were a source of comfort for me. I get in that park and find that the rest of the world is locked out. I can leave my worries behind and concentrate on the basics like family, food, and fun. It truly regenerates me so that I can go back into the busy world and try to muster up the faith to believe that all will be ok, that we will be able to make things work. I carry in my heart a picture of Jackson Lake, blue and mirrored, with the Teton Range jutting out and reaching up into the blue sky. It is a bit of heaven.
Taylor and Kate, soon to be married, kissing and wake-boarding! July 2013
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