They're back

To say the least, I have had my ups and downs with birdfeeders over the years. 

To sum it up, several years ago I gave in to the squirrels. I simply cannot keep birdfeeders because the squirrels take them over before most birds can even get close. 

The only exception has been with my hummingbird feeder. It hangs from a piece of fishing line right outside the picture window in our kitchen, and the squirrels can't touch it. 

I hung this year's version a few weeks ago, and while it took a couple weeks before they found it, the hummingbirds are back. 

Thus far, there has generally been one at a time and we seem to see one of them more often than others. In past years, I observed that, when more than one of them would arrive at the feeder, it was not uncommon for one of them to chase another way. Maybe this guy we're seeing this year has spread the word he is not sharing! 

Whatever the case, I am happy to see the fluttering little guys back, and I hope they will keep coming! 

Good news

Because I shared in this space about my son-in-law, I wanted to report that his six-hour robotic surgery this past week was successful. The doc reported to my daughter he "got the cancer" and the bag is temporary. 

It was a long day, and there are bumpy days ahead as he recovers. As I write this, he is still in the hospital, and my daughter is staying with him most of the time. We are here in Huntsville staying with our grands, although today (Sunday) some friends are giving us a break. They are three adorable children, but they ARE children and I think God's design of having them when we are young is a good one! 

But all indications are of a good prognosis, and we have every reason to be optimistic. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and support. 

Something personal

It's hard to believe I started this blog 16 years ago. I am not sure the title I came up with, "Mid-Life Thoughts from Bob," provides an accurate description of the blog owner anymore. 

But given the various quirks of Blogger, I am not going to try and change the name, even though I no longer fit the definition of "mid-life."

I started the blog as an outlet for writing, a longtime passion. A few years later I got a gig writing a weekly (mostly) column for a local publication. That became the main focus for my writing, although I continued my presence here. A couple of years ago, the column ended but I moved that effort to the Substack platform and was fortunate enough to take many of my column readers with me and gain some new ones. 

That is my main focus for writing today, but I still keep this blog. I do so because I made some friends here, and even though I know you only online (except for Kelly, who I have known my entire life and who urged me to start this blog), I feel a connection with the handful of you whose blogs are listed at the right. 

People have come and gone from here through the years. Some have left the blog world, and some have made their blogs invitation only. For the few of you who remain, as I said, I feel a connection and it keeps me writing here and checking in on your blogs. 

Because of that connection, I wanted to share something personal with you today.

As regular readers know, I have three adult children -- two sons and a daughter, with the daughter in the middle. My older son lives just outside Atlanta with his wife and two children; my daughter is in Huntsville, AL with her husband and three children; and my younger son lives in Birmingham, AL with his wife and two-month-old son. We are just south of Nashville, and everyone is within easy driving distance. 

I am a family man to the core, and those folks I just listed, along with my sweet wife, bring me far more joy than I deserve.

That brings me to the personal matter I want to share. Last November, the Monday before Thanksgiving to be precise, my son-in-law in Huntsville was diagnosed with colon cancer. He was 37 at the time, and 38 now. As you can figure out from what I wrote above, he is the father of three (adorable) children. They are 6, 4 and 2 years old. 

I can't adequately describe the kick in the gut I felt when our daughter called to give us this news. Sorrow, denial and anger are among the emotions I experienced. How is it fair that this awesome young husband and dad would be struck with a life-threatening disease? 

He was given a good prognosis. The cancer was detected early and had not spread. He soon started radiation and oral chemotherapy, and in early February he began periodic infusion chemotherapy. For the most part, he tolerated all of this well, with his most significant side effect being extreme fatigue the few days following infusion. 

My daughter has been incredible, caring for him and educating herself about his form of cancer and treatments. She is his biggest advocate. And oh yeah, she has maintained her job and taking care of the three children I described above. 

Through the generosity of friends, Wife and I were provided a guest house in Huntsville to use during the infusion weeks so we can be there to help with daily life while our son-in-law rests from the treatments. It's about 12 minutes from their house, so it's easy to get there and also nice to have our own place. 

His last infusion was May 14th. A couple of weeks later, their family headed to the beach for a week for some much-needed R&R, and a break from cancer and cancer talk for that brief period of time. 

He had an MRI and a scope in early June, which showed while the tumor has shrunk, it is still there. He will have colon resection surgery June 27th. Cancer is still confined to the colon and the medical team is confident the surgery will take care of it. 

In the midst of all of this, there have been blessings. I will share more later. 

For now, I would like to humbly ask my little community here for your best thoughts and prayers for the surgery next week and through his recovery time. Wife and I plan to be in Huntsville for about ten days and will make adjustments to that plan if needed. 

I will keep you posted. Thank you.