Good Afternoon Everyone,

Oh Happy Day,
We have borne the wrath of Sandy, a very intrusive, unwelcome visitor, and our power has been restored through the night.  We have been without power for days.  I learned from this experience that I am NOT a camper girl.  I can not even express how delighted I am to be a warm, soft, smooth, clean, fresh smelling woman once again.   Yeah!   Thank you, God and PECO for giving us POWER!

 Over the course of the last several days, we have not had school.  Our family was together, all of us, plus Shawn's friend, Lauren for two days, which was delightful!  We played games, cooked together, and even decorated for Christmas!  YES WE DID!   Our home looks festive, is warm and cozy now and we are ready, prepared to experience the most wonderful time of the year.  I love Christmas.  We will be hosting 14 for Thanksgiving this year and we will have our Special Ed graduates for our Third Annual Holiday Gathering!  So I am really excited!  And we may be expecting Riley too.  That would be quite special.

During this major inconvenience, we took a shower and went to our friend's home,
The Lynch Family, to use their electricity to dry our hair.  We went in separate cars.  When we returned home, Lindsay and Shawn were on the driveway looking at us.  They asked Jim, how they were going to get in the house.  Our home is like Fort Knox these days, nobody can get in, since the burglary, between the locks and the alarm. The back door is locked tight.  The front door, we never got keys made, because we always used the garage door.  And now, because of the power outage, when I left the house, I tripped the automatic opener, but negligently closed the door and it locked.   What a nightmare.  NO LIGHT, NO POWER.  We went to our angels next door, the J's and fortunately, Tim, Mary and Erin helped us with a ladder.  Shawn climbed up the back of the house and was able, after much ado, to get in to our home through our bathroom window.  Jim was calling to Shawn, there is water in the tub, be careful you don't fall in!   What a fiasco.  Lindsay was yelling to Shawn to be careful and all we heard back were are names in annoyance. Shawn was a woman on a mission.  SHAWN IS OUR HERO!  She is truly unbelievable.  She is training for a 5K run this weekend and I think she is in tip top shape. God Bless Shawn!   

At this precise moment, I am waiting to hear if we will have school tomorrow.  It seems to me that it would be fiscally irresponsible for the district to open the school for one day and heat all the buildings to the tune of thousands of dollars. I also just learned that our school still does not have power.  When I spoke to my friend, L, at school, she mentioned that she read my blog!  Wow, I didn't think anyone was reading, I have not heard from anyone in a long time.  I decided a long time ago, that my reason for writing this blog was for my girls.  I know that they don't want to be bothered with my thoughts on things.  But I think they may want to know someday.  I wish that I could have one more conversation with my mother.  Get my Mom's thoughts on different issues. I lost my Mom 20 years ago, and my Dad 10 years ago.   I think by blogging, that perhaps if they would like my opinion on something after I am no longer living, then I will still be providing help.  They also get to read or listen to me 'talk' on their time, and I understand that.  So Thank YOU, L, for encouraging me to continue blogging, you gave me hope today.   

I made two phone calls today, one to Caremark, our prescription company and one to Aetna our medical insurance company.  For over a year I have been trying to locate Roland in the Customer Service Department of one of these companies. Between last August 4 and August 24, I went to Target to buy robes that zipped up the front.  I needed to be comfortable after my mastectomies and thought these would be a wise purchase.  I sat in the Target parking lot in  my car having a nervous breakdown talking to Roland.  I wanted to find out how much money this surgery was going to cost my family and how much my Tamoxifen was going to cost us on a monthly basis.  I have to take this drug for 5 years post surgery. 

When I called the two companies, they see that I have been calling ( today was the third time) to find Roland.  I informed them why I wanted to reconnect with him.  I was sobbing on the phone to Roland telling him about my life August a year ago.  I said I had a magnificent  life.  All my dreams came true. I was blessed with great parents, family and friends.  I have a great husband of almost 30 years and two healthy, adult, educated daughters.  What more could a woman ask for. There is no history of Breast Cancer in my family and NOW I WILL LEAVE A LEGACY OF BREAST CANCER FOR MY GIRLS.  I was devastated.  I tried to live a good, healthy life.  This was now my journey.
It has been 15 months and I want to thank Roland personally for his kind words.  They lifted me up in my darkness.  This is what he said, "You are a blessed woman.  I would like you to consider this.... Your legacy for your daughters will not be that you had breast cancer, but that you were strong enough to beat it.  He said, perhaps all the woman that came before you in your family would not have been strong enough to endure this illness."  OH HOW HE EMPOWERED ME.   Roland was my angel.  I have tried to find him and no one seems to be able to do so.  I have gone to supervisors and asked for help.  I even said if he was unkind to me you would have found him, but you can't find him if he was wonderful to me?   I have considered that he was just an angel sent by God to talk me off the proverbial cliff.   Whatever, the outcome, I love you Roland.  You are my angel.  I recognize you as such, and I am grateful.

On another note, I will be praying for Denise, my friend L's sister who just had breast cancer surgery.  It is such a cruel and inhumane disease.  My prayer is that they got her cancer and that she will live a full and extraordinary life.  

On Sunday, I give my talk on Faith at Archbishop Wood High School.  I am excited to do so.  My friend Annemarie, sent me the most beautiful card, encouraging me and lifting me up.  She reminded me of Roland and I think I have to mention him in my talk on Sunday.  Even today, L said that was a good story, when I shared about Roland.  Who knows, perhaps we will find him, after all this time.

I also spoke to our friends, The Lynch's, and their beach home is fine.  Our friends The Biglin's had water in their first floor, but when I spoke to Karen, she was very much on it, and had a positive attitude.  Which confirms my thought that you can not control what happens to you in life, but you can control how you respond to the adverse situations. 

And so, my wish for you tonight is that you have power in your home, that you give all your power to God, and that you are empowered to do HIS WILL!

En` Joy,

Marialyce