This week, a half-dozen famous women took a trip into space, an opportunity previously reserved for educated and trained astronauts on purposeful missions to collect data potentially beneficial to human kind. But this wasn’t that serious. Unless I am missing something, these women got this chance because of their fame and/or excessive wealth, and was just for the fun of[…]
On Giving in to Darkness…
First of all, let me apologize to everyone in my life with chronic illness. I have people in my life with RA, MS, heart conditions, diabetes. If being in heart failure and having bad valves has taught me anything it is that being “chronically ill” isn’t a choice. Who would choose this? Sure, how one deals with it is a[…]
On Turning 60 Part IV (Conversations)…
“Old people get together and all they talk about is their health problems.” I play Bunco with a group of friends from school. My relationship with one of these ladies started in 1st grade, but most of us met in 7th grade when three or four elementary schools merged into Carl Albert Junior High. Like many people, after years of[…]
On Being a Person in a Meat Suit…
It is so hard to be a person, isn’t it? So very hard. I’m not talking just about being a decent human being, which is nearly impossible some days. But, the basic daily chore of waking up and dragging ourselves out of bed every day can be terrifying. We walk around in the meat suits assigned to us, navigating through[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… The Stuff They Don’t Tell You
In the weeks leading up to my heart valve surgery, I was told many things. I was told what the procedure would look like. I was told that while the average hospital stay is 10 days and the average recovery time is 8 weeks, most of that was up to me and how I responded. I was told I would[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… Post Surgery
Spoiler Alert! I survived my surgery. Eight days ago, I had what was supposed to be a double heart valve replacement surgery. The good news is that once the aortic valve was repaired, the mitral started behaving as it should in a last ditch effort to be compliant and save itself. It worked; my original mitral valve beats obediently inside[…]
On How We Are NOT Destroying the Planet…
Contrary to what you may have heard, humans will NOT destroy the Earth. Good news for Mother Earth, but not for her reckless children.
On Fall and Aging….
It is mid-October. Fall is here. The air was damp and cool this morning when I took the dogs out on our morning walk. Typically it is still dark when I start out, but today I lingered over my journaling and coffee longer than usual. I wanted to give the sun a little time to raise the temperature a bit[…]
On Mother’s Day…
Yesterday, a cashier at Home Depot handed me my receipt and said “Happy Mother’s Day.” I thanked her and said “Happy Mother’s Day to you” (or maybe Charles did). I was a little taken aback by that. I am indeed a mother. I have two grown kids and four grands. It is a role I place in high priority. But,[…]
On Living in Your Hands…
Live in your hands and your mind will learn to bow like a root. – Mark Nepo In his devotional called Live in Your Hands (Nepo), the author describes the difference in living too much in your head and not enough in the real life activity of living. He tells a short story about a man who, so distraught after[…]