Don't forget to read this starting at the bottom

I sit here on Monday the twenty-first of May, and yes, I do realize that I've lost a week here, in these emails-slash-journal entries. Last week was, what I consider, a big mess. The weekend, which was not the one which just passed, but the one before, was the weekend before what was Gaia's 14th birthday, which coincidentally, fell on the 14th. She had spent both days of the weekend with her best friend Oona Post, daughter of the island-famous Dr. Robert Post, Vineyard dentist and renowned (I'm serious) fly-fisherman. He's written books on the subject. Sadly, Oona's Dad died of leukemia when she was still a baby. Cancer really sucks.

But I digress. The plan was, that since it was Gaia's birthday anyway, I would take the day off from work and G would bag school and we'd spend the day together off-island. She'd get to see where I go everyday and do a little shopping. Gaia, however, is not a shopper. Yes, unlike her mother AND maternal grandmother, Gaia does NOT enjoy wandering around aimlessly in that florescent lighting, looking for that perfect garment to just jump off the rack. Go figure. Halfway through the day she was quite literally bored to tears. I'm afraid the whole day was anticlimactic for her, exhausting for her mom.

Tuesday started out bright and sunny, with wind gusts expected up to 50 miles per hour. Great. As predicted, I got a call from the Angel Flight pilot explaining that it was far too windy to fly today. Fortunately, my friends had my back, once again. Denise Alwardt, another kind person I work with, has a spare car, a sunny yellow Jeep Wrangler. She encouraged me last week to look into what the Steamship authority charges to keep a car in their Palmer Avenue lot for medical purposes. "Fifty bucks a month," said Mike, the manager over there." At around 90 dollars per round trip car reservation, this is a bargain, so I took the yellow Jeep on the new boat, Island Home, and drove route 28 to Hyannis. On the way back, I parked the jeep in the lot, paid the 50 bucks to Mike and took the shuttle to Wood's Hole to catch the ferry back home.

Not so fun having to do it again the next day.

Wednesday. The day looked lovely, but my British pilot called me in the morning and explained that (now think British accent), "I can cehtainly get you theh, howevah, thundehstorms are predicted for this ahfternoon, so I'd be unable to fly you home." Crap. I swore alot more this day, every time I'd hit a red light or was stuck behind someone making a left turn. How do people do this everyday?

Thursday. Clouds and sun, but no storms or fog or wind. Thank you God. I flew. I can't even remember who the pilot was who brought me to Hyannis. Ritchie Canastra brought me home.

Friday. The worst. It did everything but snow. Rain, wind, the works. Angel Flight had called me Thursday afternoon to tell me my pilot had canceled already, but they had good news and bad news. The good news was that they were trying to get me on a Cape Air flight. The bad news; no paying customers were booked on the flight from the Vineyard to Hyannis, and Cape Air won't fly without paying passengers on board. I prayed silently, on the front steps of the Mugar Cancer Center, for paying passengers. I was exhausted.

The Great Spirit must have decided I needed a mental health day, because sure enough, there were no airplanes leaving the rain-soaked ground that day. And I was determined. I was NOT driving. After explaining my predicament to the bored person at the other end of the phone line at Cape Cod Hospital, I happily stayed at work until 4:15.

Today is Monday. Today for the first time there was another passenger on board my flight. His name was Jeff and he was headed to Hyannis for a follow-up appointment as he had finished his radiation back in the fall. He has (had?) prostate cancer. He told me he won't know if it's really gone for about 2 years. We talked alot about how important it is to have a positive attitude, and I think it's true for everyone, in any given situation. Jonathan and Joel and I joke about it, reminding one another about " P.M.A" (positive mental attitude) but I believe that whenever something bad happens, or something that seems bad at the time, you have to remember that down the road, something can and will transpire from it that will make you a better person. From darkness comes light, I guess. There is always something to be learned from struggle.


Yes, there is. Which is why I guess I am constantly learning.