Still 31 down & 4 to go (but who cares its Christmas eve)

Got to the lodge last night in time for the hustle and bustle of dinner. Seems all were in attendance except Chad (more on that later). Dinner was a free for all as no group came to fix dinner last night. Everyone ate well though with Pop eating almost a whole large baked potato, a bit of cinnamon apples and even washed it down with a boost. Solid food AND a 360 calorie chocolate boost plus ~ wooo hooo! Thats pretty cool. (its amazing what you can get excited about). Cayman ate the best though as his son prepared round steak with gravy and brown rice. Kristen topped it off with a really good looking salad she shared with them. Caymans last supper in the house was pretty handy. After dinner we socialized as most of the group is finishing their treatments within a week and all seemed to be preparing for goodbyes. Everyone put on their game face but my bet is everyone had the same lump in their throat that I had. The hugs and handshakes we shared before retiring for the evening confirmed my thoughts. Everyone is ready to be done with this stage of treatment but no one is really ready to say goodbye to the friends and (heck I'll just say it )family we have made. I think I speak for us all .... Dang I love those people. Coach, Sid, Wayne, Dave, Cayman and their families.

The night was short as Pop scheduled treatment this morning was supposed to be at 8 am. I say "supposed" because when I came down for coffee the lady night keeper told me that a call had come in for us in the wee hours of the morning and it seems the super duper tanning bed Pop uses was broken. Now thats a novel thought ..... the machine Moffitt uses to radiate Pops lungs can actually break down. Sid uses the same machine and about the time we were going to go over and check it out, he came back and let us know the parts would not be here till midnight. (makes you wander if Santa is delivering them). We can make it up next week so all is well. Pop decided to rest a few minutes before we headed home and while I was waiting, Chad came down. Seems his car broke down yesterday at the gas station leaving him and his fiance stranded. They made it back to the Lodge with mere minutes to spare before lockdown. Thats why they weren't at supper! What a bummer! He needed to go back down to the station to meet the tow truck guy and so I took him. I was glad I could help. Once back, Pop was ready to go and as we were leaving we had to say our good-byes to Cayman. Special guy he is. He will be back Feb 8th for a checkup ~ I hope we get to see him then. As we were leaving he showed us his "diploma" for graduating. He was so proud I had to take his picture with it. I will post it next! I pray for healing, a good flight home and a great family filled Christmas for him, he has been away from home a long time.
The trip home was uneventful and Pop was quiet. We did have a chuckle at the "El Dollar Store" in Zolfo. I asked him if that was the spanish version of the dollar store. He just laughed. I am praying for a good quiet family visit for Christmas eve tonight. Love, prayers, and thanks to all.

Love God; Love People
TW