“Dear Family”
A Letter from Ruth Doreen (Painter) Henrikson to her family
Bountiful, Utah — October 2, 2008
ARCHIVIST’S NOTE: The following is a verbatim transcription of a letter written by Ruth Doreen (Painter) Henrikson (b. September 13, 1951) to her brothers and sisters and their families, dated October 2, 2008. Ruth was one of the ten children of Preston Elmer Painter (b. December 30, 1910) and Marion Josephine Cranston Painter (b. May 13, 1910) of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The letter was written some weeks after a Painter family reunion and announces her diagnosis of breast cancer. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing follow the original. The family history and contact directory that accompanied the original letter has been withheld from this transcription, as it contains addresses, telephone numbers, and electronic mail addresses of living persons.
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October 2, 2008
Dear Family,
I enjoyed seeing everyone at the family reunion. I really wanted to show my family my childhood residences and didn’t fit that in. I thought about it and decided that our Father in Heaven gives us a limited time here on the earth so that we have to choose, make priorities (quote from Helen Watson). So, I was able to see the people but not the places, which was the right choice. I was very anxious about going to the reunion as Carolyn was struggling in Utah with her pregnancy with twins. It would be expensive for us as the previous year was a financial struggle with Lee being unemployed for six months. Helen suggested that I go because it was the right thing to do and hoped that Mary would go, too. I am glad I went. Some nice spin-offs or immediate blessings for going were that Clark was able to ride back to Albuquerque with Heidi and get to know her and Elijah and then visit his sisters Ashlee and Catie and their families for a couple of weeks, much to everyone’s delight. I got to see some people I had not seen in many years, especially my nieces, nephews and their children. Upon our return home, Carolyn had to go into the hospital with toxemia. Her blood pressure became dangerously high. Our family prayed and many fasted for her. Jack Watson helped Clark get home. I believe, as a result of this fasting and praying that I was inspired to check on myself and discovered that I had a lump in my left breast, quite small. While I was going for testing, Carolyn’s blood pressure became so high that it was necessary for the twin girls to be delivered early. They were in the NICU for about five weeks, arriving home September 15th. We will send pictures. They were born August 12th.
I was told that I had “Stage I” breast cancer, with a 100% cure rate. However, a second lesion was found in the ultrasound. After a biopsy, the decision was made to have a mastectomy. Then a third lesion was found. I also had lymph nodes with cancer in them and then was told that the diagnosis was now Stage IIIB, with a 50% cure ratio. This was a far cry from the “Stage I” previous diagnosis. I have thought as to how I could tell all of you and decided to try email. Dick called me on my birthday and I was so close to telling him, but didn’t really have time and the presence of mind and decided it would be better to email.
I started chemotherapy on September 25th. I will have a treatment every three weeks for four times and then after that, radiation for six times, once a week. I am told that I will likely lose all my hair, etc. I just have to say it, even though it might be a little tacky, but with the name of Ruth, this was bound to happen, right? The oncologist gave me some good news by backing my diagnosis up to a Stage IIB, of which I just learned this last Thursday.
Lee and my children have been so nice to me, that I decided it wasn’t so bad to be sick. (Just kidding) Ashlee and Paul came and stayed for a week after my surgery and we had such a wonderful time being together with Lee Erik, his girlfriend Tiffany, Beth, Carolyn, Brandon, Clark, and Aimee that I could hardly think about any pain. Then, everyone went home and I started to feel remorse and very lonely. Catie and Ryan Eden are in school in Albuquerque and hope to come home during fall break. My school started and I didn’t go. I have applied for catastrophic leave. Because I had donated days into a sick leave bank over the past twelve years, I now hope to withdraw some time. I did learn last week that I was approved for leave until early December.
I did receive two priesthood blessings, one from my Bishop and one from my son-in-law, Paul Crozier. Those blessings are very sacred and dear to my heart and I feel that I am being watched over and very loved. I know and felt after the blessings that our Father in Heaven loves each of you just as He loves each of His children. We all have divergent walks on this earth, but I am sure we will meet again in a Heavenly Place with Dan, Mom and Dad, our aunts and uncles, grandparents, and celebrate the struggles we had on earth which have taught us so much. I do feel I will recover and live for years longer. That is a statement of faith and hope. I would like to be with all of my family for many years to come. I could do without the job, however. Really, I miss teaching, especially ceramics. I hope this email finds each of you in good spirits and send to you my love and admiration. I am so glad to have seen you and to associate with you this past summer. Thanks to Carol and Jerry and all! I don’t read my email very often now as it is in Ogden so email Aimee if you’d like to get in touch with me that way.
Before closing, I invite you to come visit me here in Bountiful. We have a guest bedroom for you to stay in, if you would like. We no longer have cats, if that would deter you. I do feel that my life is not in imminent danger and that I will be a survivor, so don’t put yourself in any dire circumstances to get here, but do know that you are welcome.
With Love,
Ruth.
Now – go get a mammogram and/or a check-up! Fix your teeth!
See below for Family History and information regarding my children and family.
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TRANSCRIPTION NOTE: The original letter closes with a reference to an attached family history and contact directory listing Ruth’s husband, Lee Howard Henrikson (b. July 29, 1949; married March 6, 1976), their children — Carolyn Josephine, Elizabeth Louise, Lee Erik, Ashlee Claire, Catherine Kari, Aimee Doreen, and Clark Preston Henrikson — and their grandchildren. The twin granddaughters whose birth is described above are named there as Amalee Ruth and Camilla Annette Done, both born August 12, 2008. That directory is retained in the family archive but is not reproduced here.
Transcribed for the Cranston–Painter Family Archive · thecranstonline.com