The Last Time - A Lasting Memory

The last few months, I've written about running, training, and the TransRockies run.  It is time to bring the focus back to Emmah, and more specifically - the last time I saw her.  Back in December - Brenda, the kids and I took a trip to Illinois for the holidays, something we do about every three years.  As always, we try to visit with the Gudeman's during our visits, and this time was no different.  We arranged to have breakfast on  Sunday morning, December 27, 2009 at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant.  The entire gang - 4 Bansemer's and 8 Gudeman's!!!  A waitresses dream, or nightmare - depending on how the view the occassion.

As usual - we were a little early, and the they were a little late.  No problem - it kinda comes with the territory when you factor in the number of kids involved.  But what occurred when Jeff pulled the family car up to the restaurant door to let everyone out before parking the car will always be imprinted in my memory.  Emmah's was the first of the 6 kids to exit the car, bundled up in a winter coat, hood over her head, and walked up to the door of the Cracker Barrel, where I was holding it open.  I simply said "hello Emmah", and she came over and gave me a hug.  No words.  None needed.  I wouldn't have surprised me if she had walked right by and said nothing, as the last time she saw us was about 3 years earlier, when she was 10 and had just started her cancer treatments.  Since the Gudeman's live in Illinois, and we live in North Carolina, she may have had no recollection of who I was.  But instead, I was given the gift of a lasting memory.

For the next 2+ hours, the adults reminisced about our current lives and the good old days, and the kids played the Cracker Barrel table games.  Of course, we enjoyed the food.  That is, everyone but Emmah.  She sat at a table next to ours with her younger brother, Nick, and with my kids, Erika and Ryan.  While they ate heartily, she was unable to.  The sickness of cancer ravaging her body more than ever before.

The next day, Emmah went into the hospital one last time. 

KEIYH