That One Brain Cancer Blog: It Felt...Normal

This past weekend I went back to Tuscaloosa with my girlfriend. Shelby and I decided to go visit our old college town and visit some of our friends. After radiation on Friday 6/27, we hit the road and set out for our old watering hole. I missed Tuscaloosa. It has a sort of feel that makes me feel nostalgic, and energetic. Its a college town though, which means its a town where lots of ....stuff...learning moments occurred. It taught me many lessons , it taught me to deal with my issues, but also made me feel like normality had returned.

    We had plans as soon as made it to Shelby's apartment, there was no time to rest. We were meeting our friends Coty and Tammy. We decided to meet at Olive Garden because Shelby's church had given her a gift card for us to have a nice date. I was game, steroids made me ravish for food. and I would ravish some food. Let me just say now, this is a heavy food related post, I cant help but think of food with corticosteroids, but after this weekend I will be dieting to stop my ever extending gut size( 10lbs in a month :I))

    Coty, Tammy's husband, was running a bit late from work, but we ran into Tammy in the parking lot. I haven't seen her in forever so the baby bump was a wonderful surprise. She was absolutely glowing in the pre-baby aurora.

   Once Coty arrived we all began relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere. I love Olive Garden music, soothing , reminds me of my time in Italy, and Frank Sinatra will play every now and then. For those who don't know, I love Frank.

Day 2
Shelby and I started out early around 6 to waffle house. Before leaving the apartment complex we saw a turtle crossing the road. We decided to save the little guy, putting him by the river so he would have more of a chance than against rubber tires.

After breakfast I had to lay down, I was exhausted because I slept kinda bad the night before. Shelby went out to visit some of her friends while I napped. After waking I had a mission. Summer Snow. THIS IS THE BEST SHAVED ICE ANYWHERE.

One of my other missions for the weekend was to get Nathan, one of my best friends, and acquire some of the best ribs in town. Archibald's. It is a little shack with an unique and memorable facade. There ribs have been rated 6th in the country by some news source. I, for one, concur. I had not seen Nathan for months, so are reunion would be great. We ordered a slab of ribs, preceding to devour them. Seeing how I was on the steroid I decided to get some pulled pork too. I'm starting my diet next week remember, so i was going to enjoy as much of this wonderful food in the mean time. I made a firm follower in Nathan , he is now Archibaldian.

Summer snow was still open for 20 minutes, so why not? We go there and I got another Tigers blood, but this time with creme on Nathan's suggestion. Nathan and I have some good discussions and catch up on lost time, make some plans, and enjoy each others company. We talk about the diagnosis but there was lots of joking and laughter. Its like nothing missed a beat.

day 3

     Shelby and I decide to attend a 8:30am service at Day Star Family Church. It was our first time, the church was very lively and the music was wonderful. Overall the service was enjoyable.

    Shelby had made plans to meet up with her friend, Stephanie, at the pool today, followed by a cookout at Stephanie's parents house. The pool has been a relaxing place for me the past couple weeks so i welcomed it. At the cookout, it was truly authentic Mexican . The food was absolutely delicious, and filling. for the first time I felt like I didn't over eat.

     After getting home, we were exhausted. I had to lay down again, but I started thinking how normal everything felt. Like this cancer wasn't even a thing. reality then hit me, I was hit hard. how everything can change on a dime. nothing is totally like before. I cherished the moments from the past days, I don't know for certain how good my body will hold up in the future. I had this moment, I enjoyed it, I didn't want it to be over. the uncertain future scares me. Shelby supported me through the tears, fighting with her own too. She is such a wonderful women, so fragile and small, yet strong in her own way.

Of course Shelby and I have a ritual when we leave Tuscaloosa, Taco Bell. For the past two years whenever we leave T-town we get T-bell. It was a bitter sweet weekend. Lots of highs and a few lows. it was wonderful to get to spend a weekend away from home, a different change of pace. I wish I could have pasted time. I felt normal for the first time since diagnosis. I felt like everything was good again.