Circling the wagons.

We had a really great weekend, despite the bad news from last week. The weather was warm and sunny here, and we were able to relax. One thing about getting this kind of news - it caused us to stop and reflect. Lately we've fought about a lot of petty things, but this weekend we were a united front. We listened to each other, and we focused on loving each other and our children.

Friday evening I told Mr.P he needed to tell his parents what was going on. He was reluctant. In fact, if it were up to him he would tell nobody about his cancer. In his perfect world he would not need to tell anyone until later after he was cured and it could be an afterthought, "Oh yeah, I had cancer but it's gone now." I just don't think that's realistic. We have great friends, caring friends, people who will want to pray for us and provide us with meals/childcare when we need it during his surgery/treatment. He may not want to lean on our friends, but I do! I know I can't do it all on my own, nor carry the weight of his diagnosis on my shoulders without talking about it. All weekend I had to remind him that yes, he is the one with cancer, but his diagnosis affects our whole family.

So after some coaxing he called his parents up. The conversation started with them gushing about what a wonderful evening they had. Mr.P covered the phone with one hand and mouthed to me, "No, I can't tell them! It'll ruin their happy mood!" I gave him a look and whispered, "It's NEVER a good time to tell people you have cancer!" He took a deep breath and started the conversation and filled them in with the details.

We also told some of our friends. Friday night I talked to my BFF, our closest couple friends the H's, and I talked to my parents and sister. Saturday we attended a wedding celebration for a friend, and while there one of our friends who knew we were waiting to find out what had caused Mr.P's weight loss asked if we had found out anything. Mr.P told her, and then we told two other couples we know pretty well that were there. He kept the conversation lighthearted and positive, and then quickly changed the subject to happier topics. Mr.P in general is a positive person with a good attitude, so that has definitely helped his disposition these past few days. (But the professional counselor in me can also see he is still slightly in the denial phase too.)

Mr.P kept joking all weekend that he was going to pull the "I was just diagnosed with cancer" card every time I asked him to do something he didn't want to do (like change a diaper, take out the trash, etc). I don't think so, pal.

M2 looking girly in the church parking lot Sunday

Mr.P and P5 taking a Sunday afternoon nap together