#11 Viva Las Vegas!

Our flight is uneventful, although quite turbulent in places.  We donate a bit of cash to the slot machines, have some lovely dinners, see great shows and enjoy our time away with friends.  It’s not that easy to forget about the upcoming drama of cancer surgery.   There’s always that little voice at the back of my head reminding me of that.  There are some things that I have to continue even on vacation.  My diet has been adjusted lately to include more of what will keep things moving. Oatmeal for breakfast every morning elicits some odd looks from our friends, but they say nothing.  Loads of vegetables, fish two or three times, and not too much red meat seem to go pretty much unnoticed.  While we’re at lunch on the last day of our trip I drop the bomb.  “I’m going in for surgery, they found cancer.” 

You just never know how someone is going to react so I am thankful that although they’re obviously surprised, they’re not over the top with emotions.  It’s a good thing that we’re sitting at the booth in the hotel restaurant.  Mike and I are sitting on one side; the two of them are facing us.  No hugging, no clinging.  That’ll just bring out the tears, so keep it light, Jude. We’re past the hard part.  Can someone be funny please?

Of course they have questions; of course we have to talk about it a bit.  I think they understand why I’ve kept it from them for so long. Maybe. Our flight home is the “red eye”.  Mike and I are seated back near the tail section in row 27 and our friends are in row 16 so we don’t chat, we just try to get some sleep. Not happening.  Coffee at 4 a.m. on a jet is a new experience and it offers me the opportunity to see some pretty amazing nightscapes across the land.  Around 6:30 in the morning we get a unique view of Toronto as the city starts to wake up and our wheels touch down.  I ease back into reality; our vacation is over.