...and they're off

Mom and Dad got on the plane successfully. Boarding might not be a big thing for you, but when you're flying on stand-by status, waiting to see whether any seats are available, the mere act of getting on a plane becomes an adventure.

Luckily, Continental Flight 1059 to Houston had 17 empty seats at the time of check-in, and only 7 passengers on stand-by. I'm not so worried about how things work out on the way back from Texas; the important thing was to get Mom to Texas to be on time for tomorrow's appointment, which Dad had made about a week ago.

We hugged Mom, wished her luck, and told her we were proud of her. I drove back home with Sean; he grabbed a salad at the airport and munched on it in the car. Sean has cello lessons to teach today, so he'll be gone for a few hours, but he'll be back again this evening to take Maqz the chihuahua back home with him (Sean lives in DC). I don't know whether he plans to bring Maqz back when Mom is back home, but I imagine the dog will be making another house call soon.

In some ways, Mom seems to be improving. While we sat at a Starbucks at the airport, she looked at my over-forested scalp and said, "Don't cut your hair. I'm gonna give you a haircut when I get back." I'm looking pretty shaggy right now, shaggy in a "plump Bruce Lee" way, mainly because I've been waiting for Mom to start the in-tandem therapy so I can show some solidarity with her. She doesn't want this; she simply wants my hair to be its normal, tame self. But the fact that she's thinking critically about my hair is a good sign. The fact that she took a break from TV yesterday to go outside, stand on our new deck, and contemplate the back yard was a good sign, too. Little by little, Mom is coming back to herself. I don't know whether she'll ever be 100% back, but I'll take what I can get.

I'm expecting a call from the folks when they arrive safely in Conroe. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, and hope that the visit to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center proves fruitful, even if Mom ends up decides that staying in Alexandria will be best.


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