I will not lie. I did not sleep much on Tuesday night. The nurses had been great, I had plenty of pain medication…I was “feeling no (or little) pain” as they say. Yet my emotions were all over the place…it was almost like the longer and darker the night got the more my emotions danced and further afield they roamed. I awoke with fits and starts all night long.
If you know much about me you know I am a planner, a dreamer, a visionary, always thinking about what could be and how God invites us to participate in transformation of this world into the Kingdom of God which Jesus so eloquently describes as “life to the full”. Thursday night had been transformational for me. It had been one of those times God reached down and redeemed tragedy for the greater good…I was excited about where we were headed. I had a plan, a vision, a picture of the future…and it certainly did not include Colon Cancer! My plan A was now shifted to God’s plan [I will call it plan B – but truthfully it will ultimately be the plan that works so much better than anything I could ever have dreamed up]. So there I lay…plan A lay in shreds…trying to figure out what in the world God was doing with plan B.
A while ago I had, actually still have, a friend who would ask this very annoying question of me…he asked it just about every time we got together. “Dan, where do you see God at work in your life?” Lying there in the dark, upset that plan A was now gone…trying to figure out plan B…that question came roaring to the front of my mind. Dan, where do you see God in the midst of all this? In the midst of Colon Cancer! This was not my plan. Yet that was/is not the question. Where in the midst of this journey have you seen God at work? Slowly, very slowly, and sometimes better than others I have begun to ask that question.
Last Thursday (April 28th) there was a memorial service for Tim Corum at First Baptist Church. It was one of the most meaningful and difficult services I have ever been a part of. I began by acknowledging two truths that were a reality in the room that night. 
“Come on, don’t be a loser.” This was what my dad said as he held out the wasabi peas to me and my brother. Of course we didn’t want to be losers, so we ate them, jumped around a bit and then smiled at the fact that we were not losers. Dares like that are a common thing with him. They are usually followed by what I now call “The Look” from my mother. He was always joking around and daring someone to do something. One of the jokes I could never seem to get was the “Rayann your food looks a little weird. Let me smell it to make sure it’s ok.” of course I didn’t want weird food, so I would hand him my food, usually an ice cream bar or something like that. He would smell it and then take a big bite. I would say something like “NO, don’t eat it all!” and my mom or brother would say, “He does that every time. You shouldn’t be falling for that!”. I fell for that for longer than I would like to admit. My dad and I have always been partners. We have our own traditions; things that my mother and brother were usually not included in. Our Dunkin donuts mornings are one of my favorites.
ntain dew. That was one of the best parts of going somewhere with Dad, you almost always got to do something mom wouldn’t approve of. We would sit there for a while, I would eat my breakfast and then it was off to school. That’s another reason why those mornings were so amazing. I got to come to school late. My dad would walk me down the hallway, passing moms classroom on the way. Mom knew this was a tradition of ours. Luckily, my teacher liked me enough, so she didn’t mind I was late. She probably wasn’t thrilled about my breakfast choice that morning. The jelly donut has always been my favorite. We don’t really go out for that anymore, but my dad still has his ways of bringing it back. On my fifteenth birthday my dad went out that morning and got me fifteen jelly donuts. There is one birthday that was just me and my dad the whole day.
and my dad. We planned out a whole day. We started by eating a nutritious breakfast, which was a cinnabon, the biggest cinnamon roll I have ever had. The next stop was the movies. I picked out “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”. My dad, being the good sport he is, made it through the movie. Next on the agenda was the pottery place. We each picked out something to paint. I picked out a little dog and Dad picked out a little plate. At the time I thought a plate was a pretty boring choice, but I didn’t question it. I painted my dog purple with pink dots. My dad took the plate and put “Happy Birthday Rayann” in the middle and then put “2010” at the bottom. On the sides he put peace signs, which at the time I was obsessed with. Both the dog and plate have a spot on the hutch. By that time it was probably around 2pm, it was time for lunch. I had picked out the Cheesecake Factory. I figured it would be great considering my dad and I are both cheesecake lovers. The restaurant was a pretty fancy place. I ordered shrimp thinking it would be like the popcorn shrimp I like; it wasn’t. When it came out I must have looked a little overwhelmed because Dad laughed a bit. Overall it was pretty good, but I was there for the cheesecake. I ordered a slice of Reese’s cheesecake. I was expecting a nice little slice, but what I got was a pretty big slice. I was able to eat a little bit of it, but decided it would be better to take it home. After that it was time to go home. When we got home my mom had invited my grandparents, my Aunt and Uncle and younger cousins over. She had made my favorite meal and favorite sides. Nana also made banana pudding which is my favorite desert. My dad and I just looked at each other and kind of laughed because we weren’t really hungry, we had spent the day eating. That was one of my best birthdays. Not all my favorite memories with my dad involve food.
for it. He asked me what color I wanted to paint it, purple was the answer. The next thing we had to do was find tires for it. We went to about three different stores before we found the right size. The next thing we had to do was put it together. That didn’t take too long. I thought we were all finished, but he went to the store one more time. When he came back he had sticker letters to put on it. They spelled out my name. That may not seem like a big deal, but with a name like “Rayann” I rarely ever find anything with my name on it, so it was a big deal. I was pretty excited with the finished product. I had my own purple wagon with my name on it. I still have the wagon. Anytime yard work is involved, I bring it out.
going to sound a little odd to anyone who has followed the saga that is Owen. You all know I was in favor of a dog…a man’s dog, something like a lab, a big black lab or possibly a weimaraner. We ended up with this little thing that has black fur like a lab, the body shape of a dachshund and barks like a beagle. In short it is far from what I imagined, dreamed of and envisioned having to take care of once my daughter abandons me for college and whatever comes after and “blesses” me with Owen.
ance of survival we have got to be on the same team.
This evening the parking lot of First Baptist was turned into a place of fun and activity. Following the Kennett Square Halloween Parade we held our Trunk or Treat. It was great to see our team come together and make the event such a success. We started out with 150 cotton candy cones and we used every one of them! The people just kept coming and it was great to see all the smiles as we simply served our community. Thanks again to everyone who made this such a success. Here are a few pictures that capture some of what took place this evening.
