Been A While

I don't quite know why. I think I wanted to stay in the special, on the beach for awhile place. One that can be so easily disturbed. I have tried really really hard to not be jerked back into the reality of my crazy life and the clients and the stuff that didn't get done and the trial coming up and the........................

So, I am back. I am working on the garage. I should not say, "I". We have had an army. Two loads to the dump is all it takes to find a parking space. Now, I am not really parking there yet, but I can visualize parking. It is almost the same thing. I can see it happening in the next couple of weeks. A rather large table needs to come out. Then I am ready to go. The basement is next. I am getting rid of fabric and stuff. I feel a need to find empty space. Maybe it is part of my post-vacation state.

M-E is caught up with school. She felt so far behind that there was a possibility that she would be returning to 8th grade in the fall to try again. She has recovered and seems headed to her freshman finals. She is going to be a sophmore. I have always been a sap at this time of year but each year that she goes to school and completes is such a huge gift for which I feel so blessed for obviouse reasons.

Dr. Tracy ( also known as Dr. Fishnets) is going to Arizona to Chinle to be a doctor. She loved every minute there except maybe for the rain and the red mud and the........... She is ready for the challenges and the adventure. I am making reservations for Christmas as soon as Southwest will let me. Belle is excited that she will be there. Belle is working to get her a big enough house that we can stay with Tracy and not with Belle and Karen. It is a complicated relationship.

WE are Back and WE are Relaxed

What more do I need to show. Sun, people with smiles and beach. That pretty much says it all.

We Loved Mitch but He had to Leave

Broz, Mitchell August

Mitchell August BROZ Beloved husband, true friend and wise counselor, Mitch Broz passed away peacefully at Swedish Hospital in Seattle on April 4, 2007, following a long and courageous battle with melanoma. He was surrounded by several of the many family and friends to whom he devoted so much love during his brief but immensely full life. Born April 30, 1960 to Richard and Blanche Broz of Mercer Island, Mitch graduated with honor from Mercer Island High School, Georgetown University (summa cum laude) and the University of Washington School of Law (Order of the Coif). He was a partner in Mikkelborg Broz Wells & Fryer, the firm co-founded by his father in the 1960s. He became known within his firm, and throughout the Seattle legal community, as a man of strong intellect, impeccable ethics and an attorney to whom other attorneys naturally turned for advice. He was committed to this country, and was deeply concerned about its current approach to democracy, the environment, civil liberties and its involvement in war. From his study at Georgetown, he developed a lifelong interest in many Eastern philosophies, and in Zen Buddhism in particular. From Zen he received solace and a positive attitude toward life that supported him throughout his illness. Mitch will be remembered as someone who possessed remarkable sensitivity, as reflected by his gentle spirit. His love for the law was second only to that of his cherished wife, Sharon, his partner in life. They made a beautiful home together on Snoqualmie Ridge where they shared their enthusiasm for travel, gardening, Asian art, reading and history. Mitch was also a gifted and creative pianist with tremendous musicality, who was mostly self-taught. He played by ear and created his own compositions. He loved animals, was concerned for their welfare and was especially fond of cats. He also gave generously of his time to his community, through service as an officer in the Snoqualmie Valley Rotary Club and the Virginia V Board of Seattle. Mitch is survived by his wife, Sharon Christiansen Broz of Snoqualmie, his mother, Blanche Broz of Bellevue, his brother, Bill Broz of Newport Beach, California, and loving family, friends, colleagues and clients too numerous to count. A Memorial will be held at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, May 17, 2007, at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, 3605 84th Avenue SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Contributions may be made in memoriam to the American Melanoma Foundation or to the Humane Society for Seattle/King County.
Published in print on 4/15/2007.

Two Paths

Dear Mitch;

I heard a rumor that we may not be traveling the same road much longer. No more comparisons about ports and meds and side affects. No conversations about cereal and white bread. No more mutual cursing about Dexemethezone. ( Inside cancer treatment stuff.)

We will be so so sad that you need to diverge in this Yellow Wood and take that other path. We all know that at some time that less traveled path is one we must travel but that does not make it any easier. M-E-B and I have always known that is was a possibility for her and for you. Each of us that have suffered from or cared for a cancer patient knows it is a possibility. We keep our eyes on the hopeful path as long as possible but also know sometimes it is time for what Dr. Tracy calls a "DO OVER". There comes a point that we have to "Return to Sender" and get re-issued, re-boot, re-format and try again.

There is this tendency to try to not to think about the leaving part and the stopping of treatment and the going. But as we all know packing for the trip is the hardest part. Getting through security is a pain in the behind. But when you finally arrive and let go and relax it is a great thing.

MEB is in Las Vegas with more or her kind (Teenage Cancer Patients). They are having a great time and I will not be talking with her about all of this until her return. But know that she would be the first to tell you not to worry. During her healing ceremony she saw and received a message from a child that had died 8 years before named Joseph Boyle. He told her that she would be all right and was asked to tell his dad that he was all right. I don't know if she has thought about what that means but it tells me we change form and this "mortal plain" is not all we have.

Take your healing bears and let the strength they give help you on the next part of your journey. We will take care of Sharon, I will keep paying for the candles I lite in your honor ( even though it irks me for some reason) and we will be in touch again.

The picture here is one I took in Venice of St.George the Dragon Slayer. It is hard to see but there is a candle on each side. I lit one for you and one for MEB. You both have slayed the dragon, only in different ways.