Dear ones, How shall we talk about this? What do I say? Everything changes so quickly and at once so slowly, dreamlike. We are still here, but we are inexorably changing. For so long I have known none of us would get out of this alive. And I knew in Continue Reading
debrarian
Betty’s letter
Val’s mom Betty married her second husband, Val’s father Miles, in 1963. They spent their summers in northwestern Montana on the cattle ranch where Miles’ parents had lived since 1938. In 1967 (two years before Val was born) Betty wrote a letter to her younger sister Lois, describing her delight in summer Continue Reading
saying goodbye to Betty
Folks, this was one of the hardest weeks of my life. Val was incredibly, terrifyingly sick all week and we both just barely made it through. She was especially sick on the day of Betty’s funeral, which was lovely and moving and sad and celebratory. The Garrison family has lived Continue Reading
in the blender
Dear friends, here are a few updates: Radiation: The radiation oncology team was able to map out a radiation plan for Val. The trick was to avoid major risk of damage to her trachea, esophagus and heart, yet still target the tumors constricting her breathing. Val has now done eight Continue Reading
missing Betty
Friends, Still no time to write, but I know people worry, so I just wanted to say Val and I are still here. Lots of big events in the last couple weeks, too big to encompass in hurried snippets. The biggest event is that the very beloved Betty Garrison, Valerie’s Continue Reading
pain’s better
Not so much pain this week as she had on Sunday/Monday. Such a dense week I haven’t had a second to fill anybody in. We are still here. Stay tuned. xo Deborah p.s. Tomorrow is Val’s birthday. What luck for so many of us that she was born! Happy birthday, Continue Reading
the wee hours
Friends, Val had a painful night culminating in a trip to the ER at 4:00 in the morning. Three of us went with her. She sometimes gets these intensely painful muscle spasms in inexplicable places: around one side of her rib cage; along part of her spine… Last night’s was in Continue Reading
this is how we put our pants on
Thirteen years ago Val and I lived for eleven months in a camper van, vagabonding around the country. I am not (to my own disappointment) a morning person, but Val is quite sprightly in the mornings and would leap early out of bed to make coffee and rattle around the Continue Reading
maybe radiation
My friends, Val’s breathing is shallow and labored these days, and we can see it worsening weekly. To sleep, she props herself with pillows into a half-sitting position, but violent coughing episodes jerk her awake for an hour or two most nights, leaving her even more exhausted. Two and three and Continue Reading
safely home
Dears, we have made it safely home to Portland. Our fabulous ground crew was waiting to wave us in, haul in the gear (including about fifteen heavy O2 tanks), bring us dinner, and envelop us in big hugs. The dog was ecstatic to see us and we to see her. Continue Reading