A year ago today, Mohamed and I woke up in Des Moines.  I had taken a break from the chemo so that maybe my stomach would cooperate during the previous day's trip and this day's events.  We drove 40 miles north to Story City, my hometown, where I discovered my childhood home had been razed, visited my parents' graves, and had lunch with a friend from school days whom I hadn't seen in the 50 years since we had graduated from high school.  Then we drove back to the hotel, where I crashed for a couple of hours before we met the four friends--two from Kansas, two from as far north in Minnesota as you can go without saying 'aboot'--who were coming to our marriage.  It was a beautiful late afternoon, and although it was too late in the season for the roses to be in bloom at the rose garden where we got married, the setting was still tranquil and beautiful. 

Who would have thought just a few years before that it would be possible for a same-sex couple to marry?  And in Iowa yet--the heart of the Midwest.  But today we celebrate our first anniversary, though in a state that doesn't recognize our union. 

There was also another anniversary in July.  On July 16, 2007, after months of Skyping, Mohamed and I met face-to-face for the first time.  Thus began two years of a very long-distance relationship before May 2009 when Mohamed arrived in Topeka to stay.  Seven years since we met, five years of living together, one year of being married--a lot of blissful celebrations in July.

Last week we had an uncharacteristic break in summer heat, so I gathered all my energy, and we finally leased a new car.  I was good for about two hours at a time.  We considered buying out the Venza lease, but when you negotiate a lease, you want the highest possible residual value (so the lowest lease payments), and that figure was too high to be practical.  The Honda dealership didn't seem to be keen on negotiating a lease on a Crosstour, but the Nissan dealership was more agreeable and had a large stock of Rogues.  All the walking and getting in and out of cars was exhausting, and the final process took nearly three hours, but we ended up with a "midnight jade" Rogue at a good price.  When I drove it, it was the first time in two years that I had been behind the wheel. 

My health has been pretty much the same, except for a series of new aches that mysteriously appear and then, so far, disappear.  It's frustrating not to know which are just the consequences of old age and which may have something to do with the cancer.  But after nearly four years of living with uncertainty, there's not much to do about it except to be thankful I'm still around to celebrate anniversaries.