Another box of delights

Inspired by the ‘bugger herceptin and pass me the gin’ box that Jude and Rebecca made me (latest bits of loveliness: a Fascinating Aida CD and some pretty cupcake cases), Joy presented me with this.

It’s a ‘Mummy and daughter things to do’ box. Inside it’s full of little packages, each with a little envelope stuck to them.

The idea is that I can choose a package – some are labelled for when they should be opened, like ‘for the holidays’ or ‘for boredom’ or ‘for when you’ve got a bit of spare time’ – and open the package and the envelope. And then Joy and I do whatever the package and envelope require.

Last week, I opened a long, thin package. It contained two sets of knitting needles. The instruction leaflet:

So we knitted. I thoroughly enjoyed this  (a) because I love knitting and (b) because Joy purports to loathe knitting, and regularly abuses me and my knitter friends, so having the opportunity to take some photos of her caught in the knitting act was quite a thrill. (You may have read Joy’s comment on 9 reasons why I knit.) Nathalie, Gerri, Diane, Alice, Ali, Gaynor, this is for you.

And of course I enjoyed it because I was so touched by my daughter’s thoughtfulness and care in putting the box together. (When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was warned that teenage children were likely to withdraw/ refuse to even discuss cancer/start shoplifting/sulk/fail at school. The week before last, I spent an evening at Ned’s school being told how brilliantly he is doing. Last week, the box. Not everything needs to be as bad as the cancer experts tell you.)

I offer this post, and the box, to you as another lovely way to support the person you know who is dancing with cancer. Having something to do can make a huge difference in a day full of drugs and pain and boredom. And having someone to do it with makes the two of you equal: you lose your invalid status. You’ll have to do it without Joy, though, she’s all mine.