2019, Part 2

After a rough ending to her chemo treatment, my mom had a few weeks off at the end of June and beginning of July before starting 4 weeks of daily radiation. Her doctors were optimistic: the tumors were shrinking, and there was much hope that the surgery scheduled for the end of August would result in a good amount of quality time. 

Once the chemo was over, Mom started feeling better almost right away, but she was still on pretty heavy dosages of pain meds, so driving was out of the question. Throughout the entire ordeal, all of her treatments took place at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, 90 minutes from her home, and it was through the kindness of friends that she was able to commute.

Traveling there once a week or so was one thing, but making the round trip every day for radiation seemed prohibitive, and she would be in the hospital at least a week and probably more after the surgery, so Heidi and I decided to drive out there with the dog, and rent a place in Rochester for all of us to stay. I found a new, loft-style apartment with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths just 7 blocks from the Mayo downtown campus. 

If the circumstances had been different, spending a month in Rochester, Minnesota could have been a great summer vacation. The place we rented was right on a bike path and within walking distance of several parks. The weather was beautiful, low 80s and sunny most of the time, and there was a weekly festival with food and music every Thursday, a really good farmers market on Saturdays, and an amazing dog park 10 minutes away. The grocery stores were also very good, and we joined the Y to play racket ball, swim, and workout. 

My mom was tired, but in good spirits, and she usually felt up to getting out to a park or shopping at least once a day. On the weekends we drove back up to her home in the Twin Cities so she could sleep in her own bed, go to her own church, and spend time with her friends. I hadn’t spent so much time with her in decades, and in that respect it was a wonderful month.

The shape of that summer was an awareness of how precious each present moment was and being able to enjoy each day, despite the uncertainty we were living with. I loved Rochester for making that possible, even though it broke my heart a few months later when we all returned for the final act.