Last November.... Following one of my early wedding planning anxiety attacks, I called my good friend Gigi in Austin for some consolation. The instant I heard her voice, I could tell that something was very wrong and redirected the conversation. Gigi told me that a doctor's visit to address a persistent pain had turned up advanced cancer in her liver. In that moment, my world was shook from trivial to profound. I had been around cancer enough from my ACS days to know that liver cancer was one of the worst to be diagnosis with. My heart was sunk by the thoughts of potentially losing one of my best friends and how devastating the loss would be to her six year old daughter, husband and mother (Gigi is her only child). How could this be happening?
Over the next few weeks, this bride-to-be walked around in a heartbroken funk. Before Gigi's revelation, my bridal wimsy had already been tempered by news of my friend Carol's cancer reoccurrence and the painful drama of another friend's unexpected divorce with two small children. It was devastating enough to think Gigi might not make the wedding, but incomprehensible to consider that she make not be with us in 6 months.
With Gigi's ok, I called several of our grad school mutual friends (UT Dept. of Advertising) to let them know what's up. Together shocked and saddened, we came up with the only remedy we could. We would all convene in Austin for a long talked about reunion as soon as possible.
In the coming weeks, we learned that Gigi did not have liver cancer after all, but instead had an aggressive form of Lymphoma residing in her liver. This was a huge relief --- this meant it was treatable with reasonably odds. Over the next 4 months, I closely followed Gigi's cancer odyssey through the blog she started... She gave very frank, tender and often funny accounts with her bouts of chemo, hair loss, wigs and other cancer misadventures. I checked for new posts daily and found comfort in her positive outlook and good humor. Her trials and grace in the face of them grounded me as I agonized over the most trivial of bridal concerns.
By April, Gigi was finished with her cancer treatment and her prognosis was good. Margaret, Eileen, Trina, Chris and I travelled to Austin (from Knoxville, suburban NJ, Boise, NYC and Oakland respectively) for a weekend with Gigi, Sherry and Michelle who all live there. By happy coincidence, Margaret, Eileen, Trina, Sherry and I all have 4 year olds in toe. With Gigi's Emma, it made for a great 4th birthday party for Jiana, whose day happen to fall the weekend we settled on. Just hours before the party, an unexpected storm took our perfect weather and the party was moved from the park to Gigi's living room. Some professors and faculty from the Advertising department joined in the fun. Marye Tharp surprised the kids by bringing along her pet paraquets.
By summer, Gigi's Dr's had declared her cancer free and she and husband David were there to dance and celebrate at our wedding. I whispered to her that her presence that day was my greatest gift.
