Rites of Passage

I spent last weekend taking #1Son to Indiana where he is starting grad school. He has moved out of our house and his new home is his apartment. This is a good thing--but a major emotional change for me. I was a little sad before and after. But also happy, because I get his room to make into an office/study. Now, all we have to do is get rid of or assimilate the stuff he didn't take. He even had books with him in boxes he hadn't opened for 2 years that we brought back! (I just can't stand to throw books away.) They'll either go on bookmooch or ebay. Some, I'll keep.

I have been catching up with a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She has a great blog about her experiences. It's alarming to me how many people I know have or are having an experience with breast cancer. I do work in a library, where 90% of the staff are women--but it's very frightening and saddening to me. Although there's been no breast cancer in my immediate family to date (knock on wood), I have had some experience with cancer in a fairly young relative. My uncle had kidney cancer when he was in his forties. He was young and otherwise healthy and underwent all of the latest treatments. He did live for 10 years after his diagnosis, but eventually died of his cancer. That was the saddest thing in my life.


Here's something to lighten your day: