Trail of Gratitude Behind and Path of Gratitude Ahead
August 21.
Today was another day in the car as I learned the lay of the land of Olympic National Park. I have discovered a flaw in my planning as I was making campsites reservations 6 months ago. My goal was to get a campsite secured thinking that if it was in the park I would be in a stone’s throw to the places
that I wanted to explore. My mistake was I underestimated how large the National Parks can be. Coho campsite where I am staying for the next 3 nights is on the far south side of the park and most of the places that I wanted to explore today were on the north side. I tried to find a campsite on north edge of the park, but there was absolutely nothing available. The end result was a long day of driving. Driving in a National Park is never a quick drive. The roads are narrow, windy and hilly which means one needs to be cautious and drive slowly.
While driving I like to listen to books. With over 4,000 miles clocked I have listened to 4 books and started my 5th today, Between Two Kingdoms, by SuleikqvJaouad. It is my book club’s choice for the month. She is a descriptive author whose writings are filled with many little gems that give one food for thought. With frank honesty she tells of her experience of dealing with an aggressive leukemia as a young adult. One can smell the anesthetic atmosphere of a hospital, can imagine the poking and prodding of examinations, and feel the rollercoaster of emotions; the highs of hopes and the dips into despair.
I love her writing and yet it has been a difficult book to listen to. She has myelodysplastic syndrome, a leukemia that impacts the production of the red blood cells. My father had the same disease. When she describes the debilitating fatigue she experienced it brought back memories of seeing my father so fatigued that he did not have the energy to eat. He color was a pale grey. He would get frequent transfusions which gave him a boost of energy for a short period of time. Unlike my father, being in her early 20’s Jaouad chose to go through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. The only word I would use to describe her ordeal is brutal. She was in an out of the hospital for a year and after the bone marrow transplant she was told that most likely the cancer would return and she would have to continue on chemotherapy.
Although I have not finished the book, my initial response is a trail of gratitude behind and a path of gratitude ahead. The trail of gratitude behind me that I am thinking about today is in regards to my father. I am grateful for the man who built our house with his hands and our home with his heart. He was a talented man who could build anything, a generous man who willingly shared his talents while lending a helping hand. He was a loving, supportive and encouraging dad. He was a man of few words, but there was wisdom in the words he shared. He had a great sense of humor. I am grateful that he chose not to pursue treatment for his myelodysplastic syndrome, because I believe the treatment would have been worse than the cancer.
The path of gratitude ahead is regarding my own health. I too have leukemia, and I am grateful that it is chronic rather than acute. I have not needed any treatment. It has been 8 years and it has not negatively impacted my life. In fact, I think it has enhanced my life. It made me more aware of the preciousness of life and the gift of people that have been placed in my path. It has helped me to focus on what is most important to me: faith, family and friends. Since being diagnosed I do a better job at letting go of stress and living in the moment. I am grateful for how living with leukemia has put me on a path of living life to the fullest.
Todays adventures included walking through an old growth forest which took me to the Dungeness Spit, a beach that is a national wildlife refuge. However, I did not see much wildlife. The sky was smoky because of the Canadian wildfires, so the view of the mountains was limited.
I also walked to Merymere Falls which was on a path that surround me with old growth trees and waste high ferns.
I tried going to Hurricane Ridge but in order to get into that park of the park one has to be there at the crack of dawn and I was not! So I rounded out my adventure by stopping at Ruby Beach, a beach with massive rock outcroppings and sea weathered trees that had been been thrown on the beach by riptides.
