Today I was the first patient in the radiation machine at 8:00am and was greeted by Elianne and Benoit who are two of the regular ray gunners. Despite all the nasty streams of radiation they are showering on me we have become friends after meeting daily for the past five weeks. I was lucky to be first because one of the machines had broken down so later patients would have a long wait. Hilary, our neighbour and long time friend drove me to Ottawa today and the depth of her friendship is clear because she scooped me up at 6:30am in the pre-dawn dark.
Several of our friends have left for the South and more are leaving this weekend. They are spending the warm end of Summer in Florida and they will be happy to escape the snow here today. It's 4:30 and I just came from soaking in Hilary's hot Tub on the deck and we were watching the huge white flakes drift down against the grey sky. They didn't seem too threatening while the clouds of steam rose around us. But Winter is coming.
Earlier this afternoon I hitched a ride into town with Cheryl and while she was at her doctors I had a visit with Brian. I made friends with Brian many years ago when we both worked at the school board. He has developed a degenerative and un-treatable vision loss and is now almost completely blind. Despite this massive handicap he does volunteer work with elderly people. He also hikes mountains, and takes me cross country skiing but I insist on doing the driving! His quiet courage in living a very full life despite such difficulty is a great inspiration to me and whenever I start to feel upset about my troubles I think of his great courage. I also feel great inspiration from his excellent cellar of craft beers!
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