05/23/2025
Five years ago, I lost my dad. And less than 18 months later my mom got very sick. She spent four months in the hospital—isolated, very sick, and on a feeding line called TPN, which is how people get nutrition when their digestive system can’t work properly.
At her first specialist appointment after discharge with her new doctor, she asked when she could come off the TPN. He said maybe they could reduce it from every day to a few times a week—within the year.
My mom calmly replied, “I’ll be off it by then.”
To be honest, that felt impossible and slightly delusional. But somehow, in that quiet, determined way of hers, she did it. She focused on eating a lot of food – more than most people would want to eat, walking again, living again. Her recovery has had its ups and downs—but she’s been doing more, seeing more, and enjoying life again.
For a while, we weren’t sure if she’d survive—let alone thrive. But this week, she and I traveled together to Ottawa.
We saw the tulips in full bloom. We wandered the market. Took the subway. Ate more Thai food than either of us care to admit. Took a day trip to Almonte to see her childhood friends. It’s been a beautiful, simple trip.
It might not look extraordinary to anyone else, but it means the world to us. In 2021, we were measuring progress in teaspoons and minutes out of bed. Now we’re measuring it in road trips and shared stories.
Here’s to healing, to resilience, and to the joy of doing things you weren’t sure you’d ever do again
