The Falling Leaves…..

Dear Family and Friends:

Winter arrived too fast for us to notice.  Two weeks ago the countryside was ablaze in orange, yellow and gold tones.  Today it stands dressed in the most austere shades of black, grey and white.  Where the wind was crisp to our faces, it is now cold.  Mornings break with frost-covered grass and leaves.  Nature is gently withdrawing into a state of deep sleep.  The hustle and bustle is gone; it’s quiet all around…. so different from what we tropical birds are used to.  And there was a light dusting of snowfall just this morning.  Brrrrrrr.  We hear that in our lovely paradise, Panama, the rains have been playing havoc up and down the Isthmus!  Yes, life and nature go on…

During these last few days, Kelly, Hector and Ani have had a fun time shopping for head gear, socks and scarves to protect themselves from the chill and wind.  Mama and Pops bought lip gloss, hand cream, vitamins and Vicks!  The Dillon family spent a quiet weekend indoors, reading, listening to music, reminiscing about favorite memories, connected to the Internet and sitting close to the kitchen stove or living room fireplace.  Yes, these tropical birds don’t have any down feathers to keep warm, we only have chattering teeth!

Tia Bea and Cousin Ernesto were occupied all weekend at a high level USTA Sectional Tournament for boys 14 years of age, held in Long Island.  Ernesto is quite an accomplished tennis player, with regional ranking.  Charlotte (16 year old cousin) is in boarding school at The Putney School in Vermont.  Tio Kurt and Tia Bea are architects and practice in both Panama and NY.  Kurt is presently in Panama until the end of the month and has just announced the publication of a book titled Gamboa.  The book is about the architecture, planning and natural landscapes of the town of Gamboa, a historical landmark on the banks of the Panama Canal and hometown of the Dillon boys and our three kids.  Kurt is presently working on a new project: an inventory of the historical buildings and structures in the city of Colon.  Colon is Mama’s hometown - she’s a Colon city gal! 

We had some close friends surprise us with a visit in Mountainville!  Sean and Ayesha were here for Fiestas Patrias and stopped by to visit on their way upstate to spend time with Ayesha’s parents.   They were having great fun playing with the GPS in their rental car. The younger generation always arrives to the USA anxious to play with the latest technological innovations, not that GPS are new, but they are still not a common thing in Panama, so it is a fun toy to tinker with when here in the USA. 

With Hector’s covert mission skills, he planned another happy moment for Kelly.  Cathy and Sebastian landed in NY last Wednesday and completely surprised Kelly, appearing in front of her while shopping at the APPLE Store in Manhattan.  There was an explosion of tears and joy as the two girls hugged and kissed.  Cathy, Sebastien, Kelly, Hector and Ani met in NYC on different occasions to spend time together and they did their share of Latin havoc to the restaurants and goody stores in the West Side on Broadway.  They visited Alice’s Tea Cup which is a famous tea house.  And while there, voila! ……Lt. Dan (Daniel Ciniglio) showed up!  Another big emotional Panama bang-up moment!   

The following day the five of them went to Serendipity for lunch.  What a magical environment, something totally out of Candy Land!  This is now Kelly’s new favorite restaurant in the entire world.  Poor Hector, looks like Serendipity’s “frozen hot chocolate” is going to be a staple item on future visits to NYC!  And to finish off the day and to complete the full sugar “poison” effect, they went next door to Dylan’s Candy Bar to smack their lips and drool at all the delightful colorful candies dating back to the 20’s.  There are literally thousands of candies in this store, but Kelly was good; she didn’t pull out the credit card!  On the other hand, Hector, our chocoholic, was having a mouth-foaming blackout!  Roahl Dahl, author of BFG  (Big Friendly Giant) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory always talks about candies in his books in such a way that makes the reader’s mouth water , and he’d be tickled to know that there is a sweets shop in NYC to compete with the fabulous ones in his books!

The fun didn’t end in NYC, as Cathy and Sebastien drove up from the city on Saturday and spent the night. Kelly introduced them to Woodbury Commons Premium Outlet Mall, located 7 minutes down the road.  This outlet mall is a favorite spot for all visitors to NYC; there are over 200 outlet stores!  Eyes rolled and credit cards flashed!  Major damage.   For dinner, Hector cooked scrumptious barbecue steaks and the girls tossed a huge organic salad and boiled up some buttery corn on the cob.  Mmmmmm.  Even Molly and Jack (the household poochies) were lying on their backs, scratching their pansitas after dinner.  We fully enjoyed the company and good cheer!  Thanks, guys!

On Sunday morning, family and friends piled in the cars and cruised over hill and dale to Blooming Hill Market, a big barn with adjoining greenhouses tucked into a country lane in the heart of farm country.  They are open only on weekends and sell organic vegetables and fruit, homemade natural grain bread and assorted pastries.   Here we delighted in a yummy country breakfast while seated at rustic barnyard tables next to an old cast iron wood stove that crackled with piney smelling burning wood.   A couple of big Garfield lookalikes sauntered around greeting everyone and entertaining us with their purring songs.  We all agree that we need a place like this in Cerro Punta!  Lots of photos were taken and hopefully Ani will post a few.

The Dillon sisters have been trying to figure out how to bring their cats and Ani’s puppy, Kiosco, up to NY to be with them!  Today they got the bright idea that maybe it would be best just to get a kitten/puppy here and then transport him home when we return.  Ani put up an ad at the Farm House and they are hoping someone will call announcing that they have a kitten for them!  But, their bubble was popped when we found out that Tio Kurt is deathly allergic to cats.  So, that is that!  Meanwhile, at home in Balboa, poor, poor Pauline (our housekeeper) is going crazy caring for all the animals from the three Dillon households…. a total of 5 dogs, 2 cats and 6 birds!  She deserves a gold medal or at least a dozen pairs of funky soft socks!  

Good news!  Next week, Ian and Mary (our son and daughter-in-law) move back permanently to Panama!  We are so excited about this; it’s been 15 years since Ian has lived full-time in Panama.  They’ve been planning this move for many years and now finally, the time has come!  Yahooooo.

Kelly is beginning to complain that her staples are starting to feel tight…..it’s time they come out!  Tomorrow she will have them removed and feel like new again.  But, these last several hours will be slightly uncomfortable for her.  Ouch!  She’s wearing her white Russian furry beanie to keep from “popping a staple”.

Presently, we are waiting for the results of a few more pathology slides that will give the doctors more specific information about the composition of the tumor.  The investigation stage is multi-leveled: as one piece of information surfaces, then they know what to look for next… until they have a very good diagnosis of the tumor, its habits, speed of growth, sensitivity to certain chemicals, etc.   Because treatment cannot begin until Kelly’s wound is completely healed (a couple more weeks?), we thankfully have time for this careful investigation.  This recovery period also gives us time to resolve issues with the insurance company.  We all know how time consuming and frustrating insurance issues can be!

Meanwhile, we are doing a lot of reading on cancer and the recommended regimens for diet/nutrition.  Kelly will receive radiation and chemo therapies, but she also needs to supplement her diet to include the recommended nurturing foods, vitamins and minerals.  We’re going to have some very detailed blood work done on her in order to monitor her progress.  Studies show that diet and nutrition are also very important for a healthy recovery.  The literature says that brain tumors thrive on sugar, insulin, estrogen, and copper.  Kelly’s already trying to reduce her sugar intake.  You can imagine how difficult that will be!  Yup, no more frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity or visits to Dylan’s Candy Bar for the foreseeable future!

So, dear family and friends, this is what Mark and Mari’s family has been up to in Mountainville, NY these last several days.  We hope you all had a wonderful time during Fiestas Patrias week!  Our thoughts have been with you.

Thank you for all your support.  You have no idea how wonderful it is to know we have you all behind us. Truly, your words of encouragement and messages of love and friendship are the wind behind our sails!  And we ask for your continued prayers.

Kelly, Hector, Ani, Ian, Mary, Mari and Mark