2018 Onward and Upward

Last week, he came early.  Dressed well as always, though perhaps bent a little farther than before, he took a bulletin and made his way to the pew he and his wife had occupied this past year when getting up to the altar became too hard.  Walking further into the church didn't seem worth the effort when speakers let him hear the sermon and the priest would bring communion to them where they sat. Sitting there, he was soon surrounded by people coming by to say hello and to inquire after his health.  When the first chords of the prelude began, the small crowd dispersed to their various seats, leaving him alone in the pew once more. At the Peace, our congregation likes to greet each other.  Sometimes it's somewhat abbreviated and other times it goes on for a while.  This week it was somewhere in the middle.  Long enough that I could make my way to his pew and wish him peace.  As I shook his hand and looked into his eyes, I could see the sadness and the new loneliness that a

The days are long...  but the years are short.  And before you know it, time has passed and the world has moved on. A few weeks ago, my son bought himself a car.  A very nice car. I co-signed the loan for him so that he can begin building credit (when they ran the credit check, he came back with zero).  Car loans are considered good credit.  If he makes his payments on time and in full, he'll have a good credit record in a year.  A week after buying the car, he went off for a week-long training session so that he can get a better job than pizza delivery.  One that pays better and won't kill his new car. And then came this week.  He's been yearning to move out on his own and finally has the ability to do so.  He found a little apartment (and I mean tiny ), did the application and paid the fee.  I was guarantor on this as well with the understanding that he would NOT leave me hanging on the rent.  He gave me a look and said "Mom... you know me better than that.&qu

I like food - but I don't like to think about it.  When my parents moved to the farm, far enough away from analog TV towers that the signal didn't come in well, and far beyond the reach of cable, they splurged and got the relatively new satellite television.  Oh, the things they could watch - but a favorite definitely came to the fore...  The Food Network.  For my mother, it was a revelation. She would watch it all day.  Record programs she missed until the DVR filled up with food programs (much to my father's dismay the day he couldn't record his Sunday Morning because of all the dang food shows).  Sometimes, she would try what she saw on TV with varying degrees of success.  As with many of these kinds of things turn out, there were brilliant successes and dismal failures and each dish was greeted with cautious enthusiasm. I didn't get it.  Who would watch all these food programs?  My mom, of course, but who else?  Then I had my own revelation - The Great Bri

One of the things I've noticed as I've gotten older is that time moves differently for me than it did when I was younger.  Years, months and days used to take a lot longer.  A lot.  These days, the days flash by so quickly that I never seem to know what day it is.  Throw a holiday into the mix and I'm messed up for weeks.  I am lucky that I enjoy what I do, so my workdays pass quickly and pleasantly and hardly feel like work.  My weekends pass even faster than my workdays.  A busy Saturday; churching on Sunday that takes up half the day, then scrambling to finish laundry and whatever chores didn't get done on Saturday - weekend done.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just watching my time on Earth fly out the window. I have evidence that time is going faster than usual.  A friend who had a baby and only posts bits of him (privacy) posted a full-length-from-the-back picture and he was standing up and playing!  Somewhere in my head, he's still new and keeping my frie

2017 has been a year.  Okay in some ways, but definitely not in others. I'm still here.  And I'm still trying.  Still looking forward. I hope and pray that 2018 will be a remarkable and positive year for me (and my family).  There will be challenges, failures and triumphs.  Hopefully more triumphs than failures. Coping with the effects of 2017 is what 2018 will be about.  I have, in effect had one arm since March of 2017.  Two surgeries and then breaking my left arm has handicapped me this year.  No surgery will fix things now - it's up to me doing rehabilitation for the next year to get back to nearly normal.  Bummer, but I'll do it.  And while I'm at it, I'll be working at rehabbing my whole body to make it healthier.  That includes losing weight, getting my diabetes under better control (and hopefully eliminating the need for medication), and gaining strength. I am also a bit concerned about my lack of focus.  Short-term memory seems to be a minor pro