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In 2007, my oldest daughter, Leslie Kim, was diagnosed with Leukemia. She was 47 and had just finished raising her children in a couple of towns in B.C. called Creston, and then later, Vernon, B.C.
It was a disastrous diagnosis, just when she was ready to start enjoying life on her own. She was as close to being a Mother Hen to her family of 3 sons,Evan, Cory and Brandon, as anyone could be expected to.
She had established a career as a Court Clerk and after freeing herself from marriage, was ready for the world, except for what we termed later as a "Bump in the Road".
She was placed in a treatment center on the 14th floor of Vancouver General Hospital which was designated specifically for Cancer treatment and with a view that would be appreciated by all.
As her family and friends traveled from various towns to visit her, I was the closest one travel-wise to be able to visit her as often as I could, since I lived just across the Border from Vancouver, B.C. in Mt. Vernon, Wa.
I tried to visit her every day, in fact.
Her comfortable room had a big, bay window that looked out over an adjoining roof and after about 25 ft., a great view of the city beyond.
One day as I visited her, A male and female pair of Seagulls began building a nest on the far corner of the roof.
A 2 ft. stubwall surrounded the edge so the nest they were meticulously building was pretty well hidden away in the shadow of the wall and from the aerial view of Hawks, Eagles and other predators. The nest of scattered straw was then surrounded by cute little rocks and gravel in a circular pattern around it. The biggest rocks were probably as large as marbles.
Occasionally the male would fly away to return with food to give the hen as she sat on the nest. or to spell her off as she herself foraged for some.
Day by day as I visited, we would recall different, memorable things from the past to talk about as Kim received her treatments, all the while keeping a caring eye on the seagulls' peculiar behavior. To our surprise one day, the hen moved from the nest to reveal 2 eggs that were in the midst of the miracle of hatching. At that point she would not allow the male to go near them, as she guardedly watched the little chicks emerge from their sacred little birth place.
We watched it too! Under the circumstances, it was a beautiful feeling that although one life was in fear of being lost, two little tiny lives were entering the world!
They emerged from their delicate shells ,one right after the other. With their Momma being approximately 2 ft. away and on the opposite side of the rocks, the immediate instinct of the little duffers was to try to make it over the rocks, to where she patiently squatted while she watched.
They insistently tried their darnndest to maneuver to the Hen over those rocks on their wobbly little legs, it was a real tough choir, as they tumbled butts over tea kettle towards their mom. All the while being patiently watched by the Dad.
Finally one by one they struggled until they reached their Mom who, as they snuggled against her, gently lifted her wing to have them disappear as she lowered her wing once again. At that moment, a comforting feeling came over me and I knew in my heart my daughter was going to survive her ordeal, and she did. It turned out that she had the one kind of Leukemia that was considered environmentally related and was termed to be 80 % survivable. It was tremendously good news.
After what seemed as an eternity of days, Kim was released, and eventually allowed to go home. It was everyone's hope the chicks eventually grew up and flew away to a world of their own.
It's a story for me to reminisce over, and I still do. Just sayin'.
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