Packing

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I'm packing for a four-day trip to Washington DC.

I've been waiting for some time for this trip. It's not for pleasure, this trip has a very specific purpose.

Usually, I'm a very efficient packer and can have my bag ready to go in a blink of an eye. I never worry if I'm forgetting something or I'll have enough clothes. I just know what to pack and how to pack it. But today feels different, it feels like I'm packing for an extended trip in a far off land.

I have lots of moving parts to this short trip.

It's not the navigating the Metro or calling Uber for a lift.

The moving parts are making sure that I have all my paperwork in order.  It's not just making sure I have my photo ID for my flight, this trip is about ensuring that I have my 3-day food journal filled out with as many details as possible.  I have to make sure that several previous specific tests have been sent and faxed in.  I have to make sure that I have the address of the place that is the reason for the journey.

The destination for which I am packing for is  5125 McArthur Blvd, Washington DC.

This is a place of hope.  It is a place providing a light at the end of a tunnel that sometimes zaps my energy.

You see I'm not just packing stuff and paper work. I'm packing the hope that something can be done to help the strange taste and smell that I've had since the end of January.  All of the sudden the things that once smelled delightful and inviting turned into a metallic, disgusting, foul smell and taste.  My sense of smell had quickly become something that I loathed.  The delicious smell of ribs cooking in the oven made me want to gag. The enticing smell of coffee became a dread each morning.  The sweet taste of chocolate turned into a putrid one.  All proteins (yes, any meat or nut) were out of the question, fruit, and vegetables slowly lost their fresh, juicy appeal.  Thank goodness for steamed milk with peppermint, Noosa yogurt, Joyvial GF pasta and a few other things like IBC Cream Soda, Kraft Mini Marshmallows, Haribo Sour Gummy Bears and Hardee's vanilla milkshakes for these things have kept me going.

Today I am packing hope. Hope that this weird and crazy thing isn't so strange.  I am packing for the hope that the treatment plan will let me enjoy a dinner with friends, a leisurely cup of coffee on a Saturday morning, the joys of summer garden vegetables and an afternoon piece of Dove chocolate when the day at the office is long and tedious.

I am packing hope and goodness as I make the journey to the Taste and Smell Clinic of DC.

What kinds of things are you packing for today?  Is it just the task of the day, or the schedule that awaits you at home?  May you take a second to pack a sense of hope and joy into your being today.

Comments

  1. davetvtnJuly 19, 2017 at 3:21 PM

    Prayers going with you. Praying that your hopes will be fulfilled!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 19, 2017 at 7:10 PM

    Answers for you at the top of my prayer list. Safe travels.

    ReplyDelete

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