The Beeston Family

"Melissa was an amazing mother, wife, and person. She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in December 2017. She was pregnant with Sydney at the time and planning a move to Minneapolis to build a life with her husband Joe and older daughter Aria. While gracefully balancing a new city, new home, pregnancy and a new job for Joe, she battled breast cancer with numerous rounds of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and courses of radiation. Sydney was born healthy on June 13, 2018.

Ultimately, her disease progressed and she passed away at home on July 17, 2019. She was 32 years old. Her legacy is her children who are now 2 and 1 year old. Prior to her passing, she requested that any donations in her memory to be split between her childrens' college funds (529's), which were recently established."

When I saw this on Facebook, I couldn't believe it. I didn't know Melissa well, but I'd had a class or 2 with her in high school, and she was the nicest. Friendly, sweet, caring, quiet, smart, and real and natural. She never got in trouble, stayed out of the drama, and always stayed true to herself. She wore simple clothes and hardly wore any makeup. You could tell that she was comfortable with herself and didn't feel the need to get attention from others.
It's hard to see that she died so young, leaving 2 very young children behind. 
Through some digging, I also discovered that her husband was a urologist. And now I feel even more connected to her. We, doctor wives, stick together, because no one else understand the loneliness, the quiet nights at home, the feeling of raising kids alone. I feel like we could have been really good friends if we had gone through this process together, in the same city. I hope that she had a good support system during her sickness. I hope that her husband's program director understood the situation and allowed him to spend time with her and their children. I hope that she felt loved and cared for in her last months, days, hours, minutes.
That very day, I finally scheduled a mammogram. I'd been putting it off, but considering my family history (Meme had breast cancer, Bonne-Maman had cancer that was caught so late that we don't even know where it started, and Marraine has had it 3 times).
The very next week, I went in for my appointment. I was definitely nervous, but Alexis was a good distraction. She couldn't go into the room with me, but the front desk girls took very good care of her. She didn't even cry, which surprised me so much. I had been told so many times that it hurts really bad to have your breasts squished like pancakes, but I guess the perk in having small breasts is that it didn't hurt at all. 20 minutes later, they told me that the results were normal.
But the next day, my OB/GYN said that the radiologist had recommended that I see a cardiologist. After talking to William, and getting a second opinion from Paul, I decided that I didn't need to see a cardiologist. I'm young, so there is absolutely nothing wrong with my heart.
Back to Marraine... at the beginning of August, she went for her annual mammogram. She's had mammograms and biopsies every year for over a decade, again, because of the family history. I guess that the last time they told her there was a little something there, but that it probably was nothing. Well, this time, this little something was bigger- stage 2, actually. Marraine won't have to go through chemotherapy, but she will need to have that breast removed and do radiation. I was surprised that she didn't opt to have both breasts removed, to decrease the chances of the cancer coming back. I expressed that to Marine, and since then, it sounds like she may actually have both breasts removed. One operation, one recovery. Less worry.
Speaking of breasts. I've been looking into getting breast augmentation. It's something I've wanted to do for over 20 years. I've finally put enough money aside to have the surgery. Now I just have to find the perfect plastic surgeon, have a consultation, and schedule the surgery. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited.

June 27-July 5
Of course we had to go to The Cow on our first night in Reisterstown! Somehow, I've lost pictures... I'm not sure how many... but I've definitely lost the one of myself and my gigantic banana split... so sad.


We had 2 free days to get to Washington, DC, but we figured that going close to the 4th of July might not be a great idea, so we went the day after we arrived to Maryland. It's a pretty short drive, just a little over an hour. It was so dang hot, though! Like humid and miserable. Thankfully, most of the places we had planned to see were inside. Still, we HAD to go see The White House (front and back), and we had to walk from one museum to the next.
Because we knew the kids could only handle so much time in the museums, we settled on just 3: the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, and the Holocaust Museum. The Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial are super cool, too, but they aren't located on the strip and are harder/further to get to, so we figured we'd skip those. We plan on visiting my family every other year, and William's family every other year, so we'll be back to visit those.
I think the kids enjoyed the Museum of Natural History the most. The dinosaur fossils were really cool to look at. Unfortunately, the Holocaust Museum was closing when we got to it, so we only got to walk around it for 3 minutes.
The kids were tired by then, so we decided to walk back to the car, but William rented a scooter and took it to the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, so he got to see those. He's been reading a book called "The Abrahamic Theory" or something like that, so he's been super into American History lately.








The next day we woke up early to go to Hershey Park with Fred and Luc. There had been a lot of going back and forth about this, and a lot of miscommunication, but we made it happen, and it was worth it. Sure, we got rained on twice, with all the rides closing. And sure, we wasted a solid 2 hours waiting for rides to open up again. And sure, we were NEXT in line when the rides closed the 2nd time around. But still, we created unforgettable memories with Fred and Luc, and the storms were a part of that. Plus, it was our only day to go, so it was either that or not going at all. To make this experience even more unforgettable, this was Luc's first time at a park like this. And our kids' first time at Hershey Park. I'm not a huge fan of the water park being inside the regular park, but whatever. It just made it more complicated because we had to get a locker in order to not carry our bag around everywhere, then we had to walk way back to the lockers to get our bag of towels.
Because of our time being wasted waiting for the storms to pass, we stayed until the park closed, at 11 PM.
I also have to mention that the kids hadn't seen Luc in almost 3 years, but Luc and Kendall hit it off right off the bat. It's like they'd never been apart. I loved that. Cousins truly are the best! And I'm so happy that all the cousins are so close in age and can play together. They're like best friends for life!




We next day was Sunday, so we went to church, and Alexis was so lucky that Bonne-Maman just happened to be substituting in nursery. Kendall did great. And the boys had to be separated because they kept touching each other. Typical. Fred and Luc had spent the night over because it was too late to drive back to Columbia. Marie and Aria met us at the house after church and we talked and hung out all day. Then Fred and Marie went back to enjoy some alone time at home while Luc and Aria stayed for the night. The boys had a sleepover in the tent while the girls slept in the bedroom. They surprisingly didn't get too chatty.


The next day, we wanted to pick cherries at the farm, but the cherries had all been picked. So we decided to go anyway and pick peaches. When we got there, I kicked myself for not calling the day of, because the new management didn't allow picking fruit on week days. So instead, we played in slide tunnel and annoyed the farm animals (like the sheep and the alpaca). That afternoon, we also went to Carol's swimming pool. And then we went to The Cow, of course! That night, the girls slept in the tent and the boys slept in the bedroom.




The next day we went to Sky Zone. This was both Luc and Aria's first time, and Aria was a little shy at first, but Kendall took her under her wing and warmed her up to it. They all had a blast! That afternoon, we went back to Carol's swimming pool. And The Cow! I don't get to see Luc and Aria nearly enough, so I gotta spoil them when I can! That night, Luc and Aria went back to their house. It was fun to have them over, but Bon-Papa and Bonne-Maman's house doesn't have a lot of toys, so the kids were a little wild. And super loud. As fun as it was to have them over for 3 days, we welcomed the silence that followed.





We went to the playground the next day, and then the pool again. But not The Cow, because we had a dinner reservation. Maryland is known for its crabs, so we had to eat at the #2 restaurant in Reisterstown. I don't like crab, but my chicken was good.



The next day was the 4th of July, so we went to Krispy Kreme to get our discounted doughnuts and Papa took the opportunity to show me around, because things have changed so much since the last time I was there. The mall I grew up going to is completely gone and has been replaced by a ton of town homes, apartments, little shops, and restaurants. I like new stuff, so I thought it all looked really nice. I'm glad the community is growing and improving.
We then went to Fred's for a lunch barbecue, talking, playing, and small fireworks. There were going to be big fireworks nearby, in Columbia and Catonsville, but the weather channel was announcing rain, so we didn't want to drive all the way there (+ parking) only to have the fireworks cancelled. Instead we had little sparklers, and the kids loved it. We also took a family picture with everyone, which hasn't been done in 2+ years.














We left the next day, but not before Maman showed my kids pictures of me when I was little. Alexis said I looked creepy, because I had really big eyes. Haha.
I'm so glad we were able to spend a week with my family. Family is important. We never know what the future holds, so it's crucial to spend time with one another and show our love for them while we can.