Theater in NY, baby in CT...reprise

With new grandson Callen

"My sister just reminded me of the day a dozen years ago when I had had my Dana-Farber intake appointment and I was standing outside the Cheesecake Factory where she and Korby and Kit, the two friends who had brought me to Boston, were getting a table.

I was on the phone with Jim, in a crouch, sobbing and saying, "I'm never going to see my grandchildren."

Although I said that many times over, the first one stands out because it was all such a shock. One day I was a busy single mother of three, running around like crazy, holding down a full-time newspaper job, playing on a tennis team and running races like the Saint Patrick's Road Race that I had recently completed and during which my fatigue had sent me to the doctor and led to my leukemia diagnosis, and the next day I was a cancer patient facing three rounds of chemotherapy, multiple hospitalizations and a bone marrow transplant.

The time that I remember most clearly occurred later – eight years ago – after my last relapse when, while Diane drove me to the emergency room on a snowy December night and I knew I was facing stronger chemotherapy than ever and my fourth bone marrow transplant, I slid down in the passenger seat and said, once again, "I'm never going to see my grandchildren, I'm never going to see my grandchildren."

And there I was yesterday in the maternity section of Norwalk Hospital holding my two-day-old granddaughter in my arms, feeling the warmth of her body, finding it hard to believe that my baby was now a father, and loving how happy Ben and Meghan looked."

Thanks to Dana-Farber, to The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation that found me my donor, and to that donor, Denise, and to so many others, my prediction did not come true.

I actually wrote that two years ago and it still all holds true.

I thought I was never going to see my grandchildren, and now I have welcomed two at around the same time of year.

Baby Callen was born on July 12, a big boy weighing 9 pounds 4 ounces.

And there I was two days ago in the same maternity section holding my grandson this time, having just come back from New York with Katie, having just seen two shows, our traditional Shakespeare in the Park and a Broadway show. 

It is not too bad to be a creature of habit under certain circumstances.

Two years ago, although a little later in the month, I wrote Theater in New York, baby in Connecticut, after Katie and I saw "Hamilton" and "Cymbeline."

This year we were going to stop in Fairfield to see Nell, but Ben suggested parking in Stamford, the station nearest the hospital, because they expected the baby to arrive before his due date of July 19.

Having fun on the Shakespeare line

Sure enough, it worked out well, because we were drifting in and out of sleep at our Airbnb on the lower east side (after seeing Come from Away, which was wonderful) when Ben called to say the baby had been born and Meghan was doing well.

The next day we were up bright and early to go and get on the Shakespeare line. Some people don't "get" why it is fun to sit for four hours waiting for free tickets to see Shakespeare in the Park. But it is one of our favorite things to do. We got there at 8 a.m. (people start lining up at 6 a.m.) and got so engrossed in talking to people around us and watching people and their dogs go by that when they started giving tickets out at noon, we felt like the time had flown by.

We thought it might rain on the line or at the show, but it didn't.

Jeanne and Amanda met us at the show, continuing the tradition of Shakespeare in the Park with cousins. (I texted Serena that I missed her!)

The performance of Midsummer Night's Dream was magical.

I'm writing this from beautiful Wellfleet, where we are squeezing in a couple of days with Diane and David. We got here yesterday in the late afternoon, but with enough time to get down to the beach, where I did a little jogging near the water. Today I got up bright and early and went to the Flying Fish to get Cape Cod muffins and scones. Next it's on to the beach or maybe a dip in a pond. All good traditions.

Ben sent the above photo of Nell looking at her brother. They will have birthdays close together like Ben and Joe. Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing her then.

I can't thank Denise and Dana-Farber too many times.