Month: January 2010

Hands

The impetus for this post comes from a site I read daily – http://shuttersisters.com/

The story of these hands is this photo was taken on a warm September afternoon, on the front porch of a Civil War Era hotel in the mountains of Virginia.  Two teenagers were watching over an infant, rocking her and just cuddling with her.  One teen was holding her and the other reached out for her hand – maybe seeking that physical connection to the moment.  The infant’s hand is so tiny in the teens hand, but the care and love in that moment was astounding to witness.

CSA

I’m thinking about buying a half share in a Community Supported Agriculture. Last year I tried but I was too late, so I put something on my calendar – and today’s the day! If you Google CSA, you can learn more too.

Not lazy, just keeping with tradition!

Not sure when the Christmas decorations will come down but I found this interesting – and it give me more time to get my Christmas, I mean Epiphany cards in the mail!!

“The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day, December 25th and end on the Twelfth Night, January 5th . On January 6th, traditionally the last day of the Christmas season, is when we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. (Technically the last day of the season is February 2 and you thought people were just being lazy about taking down their Christmas lights!)”

I didn’t realize that the last day of the Christmas season was Candlemas, did you?  Ya, you probably did.

Record Time

The crew that took down all of the greenery and trees and Christmas-ness at church tonight finished in record time!  We were done by about 8:15 after starting at 7:00PM.  One hour and fifteen minutes to remove it, bag it, haul it away and clean up after it!

Many thanks to all who helped – most of whom were scheduled to be there but a few who were not!  Many thanks.

Here’s a little of what it looked like before the Take Down began:

I believe if you click on a photo you’ll be able to see it larger.

Maybe, maybe not

That’s M’s status right now – maybe Stage 4 lung cancer, maybe not (but most likely yes).  Those are the words of M’s surgeon.  Something’s brewing, there are three spots – none of which have changed much in six months, but they are there. Seven months ago none of them took up the isotope so nothing definitive.  Lots of unknowns and they may well stay that way.

She said before that she’ll not do chemo, and he said he can’t operate because of too many spots and a 24% lung function so he said “go out  and live your life.”

Is that possible?  Is it possible to go along like nothing is happening?  Shouldn’t we find out for sure?  He said, you can but what’ll it get you?  If you aren’t going to do anything aggressive (the decision with which he agrees), then don’t bother find out because what will that information do for you?!?

Another sad piece of this tale is that he can no longer be her primary doc dealing with this anymore because surgery is not an option.  Thankfully, he said he wanted to see her on the anniversary of her surgery which will be late Oct/early Nov – so we get to see Dr. Cutie-pie again!

While talking to him I had a brief flash of J & M and what they must have thought, heard, felt…  I felt tears well up, but they dissipated…

M will be 79 in April – a live well lived and certainly not over yet!  It’s gonna happen one day anyhow – maybe now we just know how/why and possibly have a closer look at when.

So for now we’ll just “go out and live our lives!”  Not a bad mantra for all of us, because we just don’t know.

Everyone should go out and live your lives – all we have is right now and that is a gift in and of itself!

edited: and of course, being stoic New Englanders – we don’t talk much about such things…