Friends And Family Friday

As I mentioned in last Wednesday's post, Casy and Debbie were in town for Casy's semi-annual check-up at MD Anderson.

It is hard to believe that it has been two years since his surgery to remove the largest part of the enemy that was threatening his life only a few months earlier. I can't even begin to explain how thankful our family is that the news was once again 'no news'. No cancer. No elevated markers. The only news this time was good news...check-ups in Houston every eight months instead of every six. Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!

And we also thank the Lord for the wonderful services of pilots from the Monroe area who volunteer their time and their aircraft to make the trips easier on the patients. When Casy was recovering from surgery or recouping after chemo treatments, a two hour flight (in lieu of a seven hour drive) made the trip home bearable.

It has been a long time since they flew instead of driving. As I said on Wednesday, they flew into Hooks airport. Friday they left from a small facility near Hobby. They met two other patients and their family members for the trip home. One of the patients had completed his last chemotherapy treatment Friday morning...getting to "ring the bell". Ringing the bell is a great milestone and you could hear the thrill in his voice as he recounted the event. (On the bell are inscribed the words "To Life".)

Here is Casy waiting in the lounge for the other patients to arrive.

He looks like he has never been sick a day in his life.
Casy and Debbie on the way to the plane. This one was much bigger than the ones on which they usually arrive.
Waving goodbye. See you again in May.

If you live in the northeast Louisiana area and have an opportunity to meet one these "Pilots for Patients", thank them for the work they do. They have been such a blessing to so many from that area of the country. The gentleman who rang the bell on Friday was driving to Houston two days a week for chemo. Leaving home around 5 AM and returning around 8:30 PM...TWO DAYS A WEEK, EVERY WEEK! Amazing!

After Casy and Debbie flew off into the blue skies toward home, I drove over to spend the evening with my girlfriends.

The original plan was to attend a Clint Black concert. It had been on the calendar for months. Early last week, we learned that the concert had been rescheduled for December...but since we had already made all those plans, we went ahead and kept our girls night. (It takes an act of congress or a well advanced booking for four busy women to find the time in our schedules that works for everyone.)

Kelley, Stacy and I each arrived at Robin's throughout the afternoon. We decided to have dinner nearby; enjoying each other's company instead of fighting traffic to get into and out of Houston. It was our first time to try Baker's Street Pub. Actually, my only Pub experience before now has been in New York. Not quite the same in Houston, but the food was good and we weren't rushed through out meals. (Think Cheers with fish and chips!)

After dinner and a little window shopping, we headed back to Robin's for some Girl Time. Kelley and I could hardly stay awake, so we all retired for the night. Like all good sleepovers, there were a few pranks...mostly harassing each other via text messages...and finally SLEEP!

We needed that sleep, because Saturday was to be a WORK day!

More on that later!

(PS...last Thursday's football pictures will be up Monday. I can't load them to my home computer and I didn't make it into the office on Friday.)