Entry 3: Family Rally

Less than 24 hours after getting that phone call from Chris, Aaron, Beth and the kids were on the road again to Tallahassee. This time it wasn't for a doctor appointment, but just to be with family. They needed to be around us and we needed to be around them. One-by-one, we all started trickling into Chris' and his wife Beth's home for the weekend.
 Aaron and his niece Aurora (Marissa and Tom's baby) and Marissa and Aaron:

 Aaron and sisters Kimmie & Jessica:

I didn't snap a pic of Chris and Aaron, so here's one of these two knuckleheads from a few years ago: 

Our little sister Jessica and Beth went to great lengths to make sure we, and all of our children, were all well-fed this weekend. Being together made the heartache of the news more bearable, and uplifted our spirits. There may be quite a few years in between all of us, but one thing is for sure, we love each of our brothers and sisters immensely. And if any good has come of this so far, I can say at least one thing is that we have already drawn even closer as a family.

Saturday night Aaron decided to build us all a fire.  He also thought it'd be a good idea to chop some wood in Chris and Beth's home. He had no idea why...

...Beth looked like this when she walked in and found Aaron with an axe in her family room...

In typical Aaron fashion, trying to add to the humor of any situation, his excuse this weekend whenever he wanted a break about something: "I can do this. I have cancer." ;D
 
 Aaron went to Whole Foods and got the kind of good and healthy food that he wants to fuel his body with as he fights through cancer. Beth was on her feet juicing all kinds of healthy drinks of carrots, kale, etc for him. He's determined to stick to a very healthy diet and not hinder his body with any foods that could be bad for him. Aaron gave up caffeine cold-turkey when he got the news. He told me that usually when he goes off caffeine he gets major headaches for a week, but he has only experienced one minor headache, and feels this is a sweet tender mercy from the Lord.

Beth is being strong and optimistic, though as you can imagine, the sadness of the situation can hit her any given minute. The love and support she and Aaron have received from you, their family and friends, have truly bolstered them so much.

I tried not to let Aaron see my cry...I was wanting to appear nothing but brave in front of him. But at one point on Sunday the tears just came rushing out of me as I hugged him.  He held me and assured me "we all just need a good cry."

We all got that this weekend.