God Is So Weird Sometimes

...in an awesome beyond human comprehension kind of way, of course.

My Grandma Allen has a double dose of cancer. About 7 years ago she was diagnosed with leukemia, and was given 5-6 years to live. Then about 6 months ago she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. I am happy to say she is still alive and kicking today. And when I say kicking I mean stubborn and ornery.

Yep, we're related.

Really though, God does some crazy wacky things. And sometimes I don't get it. But once in a while I do.

In January my grandma's doctor made her an appointment with a specialist in Sacramento, presumably the best in the state.

To take a trip to Sacramento with my grandma it is a bit of a big ordeal. She is in a wheelchair, due to having polio as a child, and has no use of one of her legs, and very little in the other, which means on her bad days she needs a trained professional to get her in and out of her wheelchair. Then, of course, my Aunt Janice needs to go. She has a great heart, and wants to be involved and supportive in every way, but she completely freaks out in situations like this. So of course she needs someone to support her, and to drive, which would be me.

So, in January, the four of us set out on a road trip to Sacramento. Four wild girls on the open road, ready for adventure. Of course we wished it was under better circumstances, but regardless we wanted to make the most of it.

The trip went fairly smooth until we reached our hotel, other than the wrong directions to the wrong hotel and circling the same area 18 times until we found our luxury Motel 6.

Hotel arrangements had been made before we left, through the internet, based solely on distance to the hospital. Unfortunately it was already dark when we arrived, and our room only had 1 towel, and no extra blankets or pillows or the cot we requested. Usually this would be no big deal, just a call to the front desk, but when we did this we were refused. Why, you may ask? Because the staff were not allowed to leave the bullet-proof office without being accompanied by a security guard. And there was no security guard on duty. Comforting.

So, we dealt. I've slept on the bare floor many times before, and I actually don't mind it so much.

The real drama didn't come until the next morning.

We had to be at the hospital by 8am. To give time to allow my grandma to get in and out of the car, and other logistics like having time to wander all over the hospital before finding the right office, we figured we would have to leave by 7:15.

We awoke at 5am. Grandma took her turn in the bathroom first. About five minutes into her primping the electricity goes out. For reals. Pitch black. And of course at 5:05 am we had absolutely no help from the sun.

We wait, in the dark, hoping it will come back on. 5:30am, still no light.

I walked outside (without being accompanied by a security guard) to see if there were any lights on down the street, and eureka, the IHOP half a block away was up and running.

So what do we do? Being four wild (and resourceful) girls, up for adventure, we packed up all of our stuff by the light of my cell phone (and by the way I do not have an iphone, so no, I do not have an app for that), checked out, and headed for IHOP.

Easier said then done, believe me.

We arrived at IHOP, made friends with the hostess, and she oh so kindly allowed us to get ready in their bathroom. We stayed for breakfast too, of course, and bonded with the family at the booth next to us who walked in with wet and somewhat soapy hair. Apparently the water at the hotel shut off shortly after the electricity.

It was a crazy and wacky morning. And we laughed a lot. We had our adventure.

Later that morning we were told by the specialist that if my grandma opted for surgery, she would likely never recover. Due to her age and her other health factors, he said surgery and even chemo would dramatically lessen the quality of life that she has left.

The best option would be to live as well as she can for as long as she can. To let the cancer take its course. It could be five months, it could be five years.

So she is living, and the cancer is taking its course.

It is a roller-coaster ride. A ride that keeps you laughing or crying.

Once in a while we bring up that trip to Sacramento. But the crazy and wacky part is that when we think of that trip we don't think about the cancer. We think about the adventure.

It is not one of those things that we say that we will look back at one day and laugh.

No, not at all.

It is one of those things that we laughed at then, and we cherish now. And we laugh at now too. But mostly we cherish it.

So, God is weird and wacky. Sometimes I don't understand things, like cancer. But sometimes he lets me understands things, like that crazy morning and the series of unfortunate events.

And for that I am thankful.