Pumpkin Pals

In twelve hours, I am meeting my lunch group at a fun, new restaurant and we are going to exchange Pumpkin Pal gifts. Every October, we draw names and get a gift for our "Pumpkin Pal" that costs around $10 - $15. We get together for lunch and then exchange gifts. We joke that it's all about the gifts but in reality, it's an expression of friendship and a reminder of God's blessings.

For the past three years, I have been stuck on giving pumpkins. I've given a ceramic pumpkin, a pumpkin and leaf plate, and jack-o-lantern accessories. This year, I have gone in a totally different direction. I got my Pumpkin Pal a beautiful, rustic looking cross to hang on the wall, as well as an autumn dish towel.

Lunch is over now but it was really fun. I am excited to be the recipient of a pumpkin-scented candle and an autumn dish towel (great minds think alike)! We exchanged our sussies and briefly talked about several friends who are battling cancer. One friend had a lumpectomy last week and got great news that the margins were clear. She will not get ready to proceed with chemo and radiation. Another friend is battling cancer for the second time. She has recently been put on a morphine drip to keep her comfortable. Last weekend they moved her up to a floor in the hospital where the rooms are more like hotel rooms, so she could have football on the TV and could have her friends come visit. We learned of another friend who was just diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who thinks that females are the weaker sex has GOT to be crazy! Each of these women are on a personal battlefield and are using strength, endurance and a resolve never to known to many men. God bless each of them.