Papa and Aunt Mary

My Aunt Mary’s coming to visit! Today! All the way from Oklahoma…..to be with us as we go through all of this with my dad, her big brother. Right about now I can use all the moral support that I can get. Besides, she’s v-e-r-y funny! Hysterically funny! We can laugh until there are tears rolling down our faces. One thing about this family, we’ve got a serious sense of humor. And…it’s a good thing, all considered.

Bless her heart, Mary’s not without her own major medical issues, including diabetes; that’s really taking its toll on her. Just about 3 months ago, she had a benign brain tumor removed and currently she’s walking on two feet that are falling apart due to a diabetes related disease. Walking! The doctors keep screwing them back together and then they fall apart again. Somehow, she keeps walking and laughing. I sure could use a few laughs about now.

According to the doctors, Mary’s brain tumor had been there for a really long time, slowly growing and affecting her in a variety of ways. All of a sudden, she had symptoms similar to a stroke and then the tumor was discovered and removed in a matter of days.

Mary’s doctors were amazed when she was up walking and talking, within 24 hours of her brain surgery. She was cracking jokes with everyone and talking on the phone to stunned family and friends. One of her main topics was how "good" the hospital food tasted, which made us wonder if she didn’t have some serious brain damage. Apparently the tumor had affected the part of her brain that dealt with taste, and after it was removed, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g-…..including hospital food was "Wonderful!"

It was at that point, we decided that she could blame everything on that brain tumor. After all, the doctors said that it had been there a very long time! Years. Wouldn’t we all love to have an excuse like that for our behavior!

Oh yeah, we could work that one!

Overweight…well, you see, I had this brain tumor for years and it affected my taste, so I had to eat more to find something that tasted good. Nothing ever tasted good, so I kept experimenting.

Exercise? Well, the brain tumor affected my motivation center, besides I think I was having some motor skill issues associated with the tumor.

Bad haircut? I don’tknow what I was thinking. It was probably the brain tumor.

Argument with hubby? Well, I didn’t really mean to call you a self-centered idiot. I had a brain tumor for cryin’ out loud.

To the kids….Oh, remember that time I put you on restriction for the rest of your life and you thought it was excessive. Yep, the brain tumor.

I just love my Aunt Mary!