A Fork in the Road


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

"The Road Less Traveled" by Robert  Frost


Bob and I have prided ourselves on not always taking the expected route in our lives. When we were newly married, living in New York where we were born and met, with a 3 year old son, we packed up all of our belongings in a U-Haul truck and headed west to Arizona. For over 30 years we lived in the desert, added a daughter, went to college while raising our kids and tried to expose them to art, culture, sports, travel, music and everything we could think of to help them grow into interesting, caring people, following their own dreams and valuing experiences and people over material things and big bank accounts.

When both were launched into adult lives we started to travel and searched for ways to go "off the beaten path." Doing this together we could explore with confidence - we were not alone in our journeys. After several 2, 3 and 4 week vacations we went to live in Italy for 2 years, a dream we had to experience life in another culture and live among the locals, learning Italian and making friends. We sold, gave away, and threw away lots of "stuff", putting in storage just the things we truly loved and wanted to have upon our return.

Our last adventure was relocating in Milford, Delaware. We found that we really missed the East Coast, the beaches, the cities, our families and Delaware fit the bill on many levels. Here we found a wonderful small town atmosphere, friendly people, arts oriented place and have enjoyed our time here very much. People are always puzzled at us - typically folks retire TO Arizona, not from it!

Now we have hit another fork in the road. Bob went for a routine colonoscopy recently and they found a growth that turned out to be cancerous. Two lymph nodes in the area were also affected so surgery was done to remove the offending pieces and parts and now he has begun chemotherapy in case it has secretly spread somewhere else in the lymphatic system. 

So our latest "adventure" is getting Bob healthy again. Every two weeks for the next six months he'll go for Chemotherapy and then they will watch him closely and test him more often than the 3 years recommended and hope it goes away completely and doesn't come back again. My part is to support him - to feed him good healthy food, full of wholesome, nutritious ingredients he will enjoy that will keep him strong and able to fight off the chemo drug effects.

Bob's first chemotheraphy session getting started. 
We're trying to take it one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other as we have done throughout out lives and seeing where it takes us. We believe we have good medical care here, close to home and will take advantage of the Cancer Support network available to us in southern Delaware. 

I've shared so many things in our lives and wanted to share this as well. Any advice, recipes, comments, or just supportive words are always appreciated.

-Rosemary

Comments

Unknown said…
Dear Rosemary and Bob,

When you so graciously offered to help out with our event at Abbotts we had no idea what you had been going through lately. We just want to let you know that we are thinking of you both and extend our most appreciative thanks for all you do to make this community a more beautiful and creative place.

Here is a favorite recipe you can try from my days working at a French Cafe that made the best soups:

Potage Sante (French Health Soup)

1/2 stick butter
2 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled
3 carrots peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery peeled and quartered
1 can chicken broth
1 bag spinach, well rinsed, big stems off
1 tsp. thyme leaves
2 T sherry
1 tiny pinch nutmeg
salt-pepper
sour cream for garnish

Melt butter in large kettle. Sauté onion and garlic till translucent. Add carrot, celery and potato and saute a bit longer. Cover with canned broth and enough water to about 1 inch over vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer slowly until carrots are very tender (at least 30 min). Add spinach thyme, nutmeg, and sherry. About 2 min. later when spinach is thoroughly wilted, puree everything (immersion blender works great). Correct seasonings to your liking. Do not keep keep soup hot too long or it will loose its nice color. Experiment with other greens like chard or sorrel.

I would be happy to bring you a batch whenever you would like.

Every day, we enjoy looking at the photograph of the mill in the snow that Bob captured so beautifully.

Sincerely,
Magritte & Jason
ninasotomayor said…
Right after high school I watched my grandfather go through chemo for colon cancer. Everything Bob taught me in my high school photo class helped me take my mind off of things as I used my camera to express my feelings as I still do when I am upset or having a hard time.

I hope you get well soon. You will be in my thoughts.
Nina Sotomayor
ninasotomayor said…
Right after high school I watched my grandfather go through chemo for colon cancer. Everything Bob taught me in my high school photo class helped me take my mind off of things as I used my camera to express my feelings as I still do when I am upset or having a hard time.

I hope you get well soon. You will be in my thoughts.
Nina Sotomayor

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