Quilt and ZOOM!

 [BY SUSAN]

The beautiful quilt pictured above came in the mail a couple of days before Sharon Van Horn's visit with Peter.  In the short month since Peter's diagnosis, she somehow managed to piece this beauty for him.  Here's the inscription:

And the details:

This is the back of the quilt, and Sharon brought pens for you all to write notes to Peter with.  Please come by and get your name on the quilt!

Sharon is a pediatrician who worked with Peter in the Orange County Schools many years ago.  Sharon and I have enjoyed time together, and especially talking about health issues.  A couple of years ago Sharon studied under a fellowship with Dr. Andrew Weil.  When she drove out to the farm this past Wednesday she brought a laundry basket full of her readings for me to go over.  By the end of this I should have some sort of medical degree!

Peter has experienced a few side effects of yesterday's chemo, but overall feels pretty good.  We put the bikes in the truck and drove up to a quiet road to go out for a bike ride on this beautiful day, and from the get-go I couldn't keep up with him.  Now, that's unusual, though I haven't ridden or run much, at first due to an injury from a horse kick, and then due to sheer busyness.  But I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to pedal!

After a mile or so (which is nothing on a bike) I called Peter and told him I was going to ride home.  I figured that I'd be doing good to make it those few more miles at this rate!  After I hung up and started to push my bike back onto the road, I realized that is was hard to push.  In fact, the brake was locked onto the back wheel!
It was an easy fix, and I should have noticed that I was having to pedal downhill, but thought I must have gained a lot of weight with Peter.  I made it home with ease.

But the real point of the story isn't my difficulties but Peter's lack thereof.  Though I can get a little competitive on the bikes, I have to admit it was good to see him disappear over a distant hill, far ahead of me.

SG