Cherish: The Thought Of Always Having You....

So when we left off Suse wasn't moving, Mary was screaming and I was...well, half-dressed...

In the meantime, while you were waiting to hear whether Suse survived or not, some biblical October snow storm from the depths of hell descended upon the Northeast...and this time it was the great state of New Jersey upon which Mother Nature's fury rained down... So usually we are all smug about the 200 year old oaks that are the prize of our neighborhood...I mean, of course, every time the wind blows I run outside and scream bloody murder for my kids to drop what their doing and join me in the basement...I have an irrational fear of being crushed by a falling tree...that and being swept up in a surprise tornado...oh and I am also afraid I will be bitten by a vampire... But on that Saturday of Snowtober 2011, it was like every tree in the neighborhood made a suicide pact, because all at once they were falling like a particularly scary and dangerous meteor shower... Every few minutes I'd hear a crack and see snow and leaves wafting through the air in monstrous clouds...another one down. The power blew after a tree on my neighbor's lawn tore the power lines out of both our homes...and so began the fun and games the next six days brought us... No heat, no power, no Trick-or-Treating...no blogging... And it was awful...but thankfully, it was Suse who rescued my family from the cold and dark that week...generously offering us beds and meals and warmth...

But I will get back to that...for now, let's get return to the bathroom floor...

So Mary is kneeling next to Suse and I am standing over her...and we are both yelling: "Suse! Suse!"...and after what seemed like forever, but was probably 10 or 12 seconds, Suse's eyes began to flutter open...and we kept yelling to her: "Are you ok? Suse?" But she wasn't answering. So Mary takes charge and tells me that we have to get her on her left side...and that's when Suse started to talk a little...she says: "I fell..." Awww...I wanted to cry...we know you fell!

Soon Mary was barking orders at me -- thankfully, I must say, because I am tragically useless in a crisis...do I have to remind you about the time Suse cut her fingertip off on a mandolin and I stood there staring at her asking if I should call 911...??? Anyway...I got the wet cloth as Mary turned Suse on her side and covered her with towels...Mary checked Suse's pulse, inspected the bump and then told me to hurry and get some ice. Hurry? Ok...let me remind you that I had just walked 26 miles...then I sat on a bus for 20 minutes...then I stood in the room undressing while Suse showered. Every muscle in my body had stiffened, and not in a good way...I could barely freaking move!!! And I wasn't dressed!

But Suse needed me....so in my best impression of Tim Conway's "Old Man" character from The Carol Burnett Show (LOVE that show!), I shuffled from the bathroom into the room and in what had to be like 5 minutes of maneuvering, I somehow pulled on those Athleta yoga pants and my pink fleece, grabbed the ice bucket and Tim Conway'd my way out the door and down the hall...and I am thinking: sh*t, I hope Suse's life doesn't depend on this ice because she may not make it at this rate! Of course, there was a family waiting at the elevator, a mom, dad and two girls...and while I tried not to make eye contact with them, they stopped their conversation, turned completely around and gaped at me Tim Conway my a** to the ice machine and subsequently spill ice all over the floor because I didn't lift my arm fast enough to turn it off...I kept my back to them and my eyes to the ground and they finally boarded the elevator...then I Tim Conway'd back to the room...

Susan was lucid when I returned and the color was returning to her face...they were talking and as I wrapped some ice up in a wash cloth, Suse started to apologize to us...which was ridiculous and we told her so...and she kept saying: "give me a few minutes and then I will be ready for dinner..." and we kept telling her to shut the hell up...but it did remind me that we had dinner at 7...we had Sam and Betsy coming in from NJ and the other girls were all getting ready in their own hotel rooms...but Mary and I had already silently agreed that Susan was going nowhere, and neither were we...

So though I didn't want to alarm anyone, I decided to text the entire group the news...and I quote: "Little bit of an unexpected wrinkle... Susan just fainted and hit her head on the tub. She is lucid but very pale and starting to get color...we r not leaving her." And though the girls are still mocking me for choosing the words: "Little bit of an unexpected wrinkle..." it wasn't meant to be funny...but for some reason...the night got more and more ridiculous from the moment the text went through...

We got Susan to bed...she was talking and laughing at my stupid jokes and Mary was making fun of my Tim Conway gait as she put Moroccan oil in Suse's hair to help dry it... And Mary is a Master Trainer with a million health and nutrition degrees, schooled in all proper First Aid techniques...so I was confident in the care we were administering...and I felt my role was just to keep us laughing...and fed...you know, since I wouldn't let Susan stop to eat all afternoon and that certainly contributed to her episode...oops... You know, I owed her some nourishment...

But...come now, you know me...no crappy room service for us...I suggested we order out some juicy, iron-rich fattiness and creamy, starchy deliciousness from Smith & Wollensky...my treat, of course... And truthfully, I insisted it be my treat so they wouldn't suggest another option... Crafty!

So I called the restaurant and rambled on to the guy on the phone, whose name was Oliver...and maybe it was a slow night, but Oliver and I were getting along swimmingly, becoming buds in mere minutes...and in the process he obviously detected my silly, euphoric weirdness and decided he should try to make me and my hotel room full of three delirious chicks his new fantasy girlfriends. Just like a man! So as Oliver hung on the other end, I chatted with Mary about the menu...and he goes: "Say hi to Mary for me..." And I stopped cold...the lack of food finally taking its toll...it was like my brain blanked or did a flip... He called Mary by name!?! How could that be? How could he know I was with Mary? Seriously, this stream of idiotic consciousness went through my brain.

So what did dumba** here say back to him, suddenly turning on our newly minted friendship and getting all suspicious and angry-like? I say: "Hey, wait...who is this?? how do you know Mary?" I was dead serious...and before he could answer, I said: "Mary...did we really call Smith & Wollensky or is this a joke? Is this a trick? Am I talking to (Mary's husband) Sandy? Sandy, is this you??" And I hear hysterical laughter on the other end of the line..."I heard you say her name, dummy!" Oliver says between guffaws.... Oh...right...duh... So after Oliver ranked on me for a minute, we sent Mary to pick up the food, and Suse begged our Master Trainer with multiple health and nutrition degrees to come back with some Coca-Cola while she was at it... And though we were throwing her to the wolves at Smith & Wollensky...and though she would rather die than buy a Coke...off she went... And as it turns out, Oliver and the Irish bartender made her have one glass of pinot noir out of the bottle she wanted to buy...and they asked her to sing for the food...and while she waited they tried to set her up on a date with some illegal from Ireland sitting next to her at the bar... Imagine I had Tim Conway'd my a** three blocks down for that? I would probably still be there...

Mary came back with the food (and a Coke purchased at Duane Reade...) and found Suse and I already under the covers...we ate dinner in bed and fell asleep by 9:30, Friends With Benefits with Justin Timberlake playing on the hotel pay-per-view in the background....

The next day the Walk continued...I stayed back with Suse so we could take our time getting ready...we met the rest of the girls on the Upper West Side after an early morning breakfast at a cafe on Lexington Avenue... (You see, I saw the error of my ways...health and wellness includes sustenance, even if it means finishing the Walk three days after everyone else does...). Anyway, we waited at Columbus Circle, where Mary ran to us and we embraced...and we walked the next 8 miles together... The rest of the girls caught up with us with one mile to go...and among the group was Colleen's sister Kristin... Kristin, another young mom having her own personal experience with the disease, had joined The Jugheads that day for the final 13 miles...a show of strength that our group had first seen in Kathy...and now again... Colleen and Kristin gripped one another's hands as The Jugheads walked the final block...and as we crossed the finish line, a surprise awaited...Colleen had secretly arranged for their Dad and Kristin's children and husband and best friends to be waiting there, cheering for Kristin...and it was an amazing moment for us as a team... We all cried at the scene...and we embraced as we passed through the arch marking our ceremonial finish. Yet again, another beautiful and emotional ending on that final day...sisters and friends...strong bonds and unending support...

So I always say this, and being Thanksgiving, I suppose it means even more -- each year the Walk reminds me to cherish my friendships and to acknowledge how blessed we are to be surrounded by people who truly want the very best for us... And I am reminded how lucky we are to know how wonderful it feels to love someone enough to Tim Conway past the highly populated elevator bank for a bucket of ice...or to sing for your meal at Smith & Wollensky, and have to buy a Coke on top of it....or to arrange for everyone you know to surprise your sister at the finish line...or to wait behind until every Jughead makes it to the end...or to bang your head hard enough to pass out and still get up the next morning to walk another 9 miles...or to never tire of spending the small moments together -- beers at the twenty-first mile, hating on the Youth Crew, The Manhattan Bridge, oddly worded texts, snuggling under the covers in a hotel on Third Avenue, eating high end take out and falling asleep to pay-per-view...

And whether it is the Walk or some insane snow storm or something as simple as laughing with my kids, a chat with my mom, a surprise phone call, a walk around the block, dinner with the girls, cocktails on a sunny afternoon or a generous friend opening her home to me....each year at Thanksgiving I am reminded that life really is filled with moments to cherish and the simple love we share..and I am reminded why every single day I am beyond thankful to be surrounded by all of you...

With lots of love to you and yours this Thanksgiving...and always...from me and mine...xoxo

Photos:

1. Man down...

2. Looks like me, dragging my a** past the elevator bank....

3. Suse, Mary and me...Oliver's fantasy, seen about as clearly as I could think...

4. Suse, Mary and me...looking nice and sharp on Day 2, Mile 10...

5. Sisters Kristin and Colleen support one another on the final stretch...

6. Team Jughead 2011 -- 39.3 miles in... at top: Susan M.; center, left to right: Kerri, Kathy, Helen, Suse and Wendy; front, left to right: Mary, Me, Kristin and Colleen...

7. My most cherished...the kids, with me in Paget, Bermuda, July 2011