In 1996 we did have cellphones. Primitive as they were, they were a real step up from beepers. Remember them? Anyway, my main mode of communication in the bubble was my push button dialing antique phone. The standard flesh color block of a contraption that blinked for messages and left you tethered to the slinky cord. It did the job. Our cellphones were also just hand held blocks with a dial pad and a digital readout panel for incoming and outgoing calls. Yes, hard to grasp the fact that we had no video screens, Facebook, FaceTime or anything even close to the technology of today.
The communication that I had with Nicky was done through the phone as often as he was up to talking with his daddy. We hadn’t seen each other for a month now. It seemed like forever. I was able to see him through photographs that Lor would bring in taken especially for me. He would be holding signs saying…” I love you Daddy”…”Miss You” and more. I cherished them and they were displayed prominently on my windowsill.
Enter the Videophone. A marvel of modern science, this contraption was a big telephone that had a really small video screen on it. If you had one in your place and someone else had one at their place, you could connect and see each other when you are talking. It was very grainy and often did not work but I was actually able to see live video of my boy! And he could see me! I cant imagine what was going through his mind because I was looking pretty bad. This was a game changer for me though. I was feeling so low at that point, just being able to see his beautiful little face made it all make sense. When you are facing a life or death cancer battle, the most important thing or reason you have to fight “To the death” so they say…is for your children. That bond, that love, between you and your child is the best medicine of all and by far the single greatest motivator to fight that you could ever imagine.
The Videophones were donated to the bone marrow unit by angels who knew that it would lift the patients spirits to new highs. It certainly did for me. Thank you to those benefactors. It was so special. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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