We left Parkersburg Wednesday after breakfast with Jan. She’s feeling well, but she’s scared (of course!) and next week she’ll start a round of VERY strong chemo that will cause her to lose her hair and give her much, much nausea. I think she’s more afraid of the nausea than anything else – it’s a terrible feeling. My mother’s chemo was much milder than Jan’s will be.

When I went to her doctor’s appointment with her at the hospital where she works I was struck by how EVERYONE there doesn’t just know her, but LOVES her, too! She’s been at Marietta Memorial as a nurse, supervisor, or (currently) the supervisor of all nursing for 30 years. I am so proud of her – and I am worried. We’re very close – we think of each other as sisters, not cousins. Her mother and my mother were sisters, and both of us have lost our only sibings, our brothers, in the past 2 years.

She doesn’t knit, but I intend to teach her in the next few months to give her something to do when she gets bored sitting around a bit. I’m planning on going down to WV after the Michigan Fiber Festival for a few days to help her along.

We left Parkersburg on Wed, and usually I make the drive back in 8 hours or so – but this time when we got to Ohio we ran into a terrible storm, and it followed us across Pennsylvania. When we got to Harrisburg I gave up – feeling very tired, worn out and just needing to rest. We stayed over at a Motel6 and finished our trip this afternoon – it was SO good to see Gerry, Atticus, the cats, the neighbors… I love South Orange!