This past year, Pete and I have been truly blessed.

As most of you know, my husband has been battling Stage 4 cancer for two years. In November, Pete’s oncologist pointed out that his every-three-month scans have been coming back “unremarkable” (translation – no signs of recurring cancer) for at least a year. This means his immunotherapy treatments appear to be working, and even better, with minimal side effects. The doctor was practically ecstatic as he expressed cautious optimism about Pete’s prognosis.

Besides the good news about Pete, I received some good news of my own earlier this year: My cardiologist said tests show my heart sustained only minor damage from the heart attack I had in December of 2022. I continue to participate in cardiac rehab, and Pete has even joined me for the exercise portion. He has the honor of having been accepted into the hospital’s Stay Fit exercise program for both pulmonary and cardiac rehab. (Ah, the joys and perks of old age! We get to have Medicare pay for our fitness workouts.)

So, 2024 has given us a blessed reprieve from the ring-tailed monster of a year we experienced in 2023, thanks be to God, and life is slowly returning to … dare I say it? … normal. In other words, we have a LOT to be grateful for this year.

On a very sad note, we had to say goodbye in November to our lovable, ornery, beautiful Champaign Le Chat. Champie was a “rescue kitty” we adopted from the Animal Protective League shelter 17 years ago, but there could be a definite debate about who rescued whom. He was such a sweet little buddy to us as we endured our roller-coaster medical saga. We often referred to him as our furry little comforter. He had us utterly wrapped around his paw and we loved him SO MUCH!!!! We are SO grateful to have had him in our lives for so many years.

Here is one of my all-time favorite photos of our little Champster, which I like to call “The Prince and the Pea.” He was definitely one of our blessings.

After what seemed like an endless siege of homebound isolation – first because of the pandemic and then because of our health issues – we’ve been able to return to in-person church services and get-togethers with family and friends, and we’re up to our eyeballs in volunteer commitments.

We’ve committed to help keep our church’s micro pantry filled with food we either buy with generous grant money or pick up from food drives conducted by various civic groups around the community. This year, I took on the role of chairing our congregation’s community service committee, and I’ve been asked to serve on the church council beginning in 2025.

We’re about to begin our fourth year of leading Sundays@6, an adult faith formation class which meets on Zoom. So far, we’ve covered subjects ranging from the 10 Commandments to evangelism to how our faith should impact the way we address current issues. The group has about a dozen regulars who “attend” each week, and the discussions are quite lively. We absolutely love this group, and it has played a vital role in keeping members who are homebound connected to our congregation, including ourselves until May of this year when Pete’s oncologist finally let us come out and play with the other kids.

For the past two years, we’ve been involved in an anti-racism committee created by our community’s Dominican Sisters Associates program. The group, which meets on Zoom every other month, brings together people of different races to discuss how to recognize and address racism both in ourselves and in our society’s institutions. Participating in this group has been an amazing learning experience and we’ve been honored to be part of it.

We also continue to participate in spiritual direction with one of the Dominican Sisters. Spiritual direction – for those unfamiliar with the concept – is a partnership in which one Christian helps another grow in a personal relationship with God. Monthly one-on-one meetings have involved examining our prayer life, our personal values and various lifestyle choices. Another amazing learning experience for both of us!

For several years now, we’ve been working to make our yard an urban sanctuary for wildlife and turn our flower beds into a welcome center for hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. We try to add a few native perennials each year, as well as planting an abundance of annuals and avoiding lawn chemicals. I’ve found gardening to be therapeutic, and the yard is looking beautiful! Pete and I like to think of this project as “God’s work, our hands.”

And … just in time for Christmas, the Animal Protection League has allowed us to adopt two new little blessings. The gorgeous “tortico” (a combination of torti and calico) is Queen Elizabeth. The handsome yellow guy is Bryce. We met them at the Cat’s Pyjamas Cat Café, a new business in town with lounges and refreshments for people who want to relax by petting cute kitties. Their cats are all adoptable through the APL. We’re sure these two will make our house theirs before too long.

If the past couple of years have taught us nothing else, they’ve taught us to appreciate the “boring” days we used to take for granted, or even complain about. Sometimes there’s nothing more wonderful than an uneventful day. No distressing symptoms. No rides to the emergency room in the back of an ambulance. No test results with nasty surprises. Just laundry, vacuuming, groceries, church committee meetings and other soothingly routine activities. 

I’ve been blown away by Pete’s extraordinary strength and courage as he has plowed through chemotherapy, major surgery, hospitalizations due to infections and other complications, and finally, immunotherapy treatments that are working so far. And now he joins me for my cardiac rehab exercise program at the Prairie Heart Center twice a week. He’s also been a great “therapy skunk” for me, coming with me to my medical appointments and backing me up when I need a doctor to take me seriously or answer my questions.

We are both beyond grateful for the mountain of get-well wishes and prayers, the delicious meals sent to our house when we didn’t feel like cooking, the cat photos and baby goat videos and bad puns posted to our Facebook pages to cheer us up, and the many other things our wonderful family members and friends did during our “walk through the valley” to help us feel supported and loved. The steady stream of prayers, cards and visits helped us more than people know.

Here’s hoping everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year full of grace and peace!