Tuesday, March 8

I ‘m amazed at how much I want to say in my blog.  I was thinking that I would run out of topics or subjects to discuss but I wake up each morning just filled w/ ideas and concepts that I want to share.  I do realize the therapeutic piece this blog serves for me.  I’m able to get these thoughts out there in the open and also send out a great appreciation for all that friends and family members are doing for our behalf.

Suzanne Harmon helped me so much yesterday by sharing her insights about what she had learned as a caregiver to her sweet sister, Kathy, who recently passed away.  I am continually amazed at the human spirit.  We really do want to make another’s suffering easier.

I visited my dear friend, Mary, yesterday.  She’s beginning her 91 year and is going strong.   She is sharp, healthy and so positive.  No doubt that her attitude has helped in prolonging her life.  I loved looking at her family pictures- a big posterity- lots of beautiful, happy faces, children making positive choices.  Her home was immaculate and she does all the cleaning herself.  I compared her w/ another neighbor who is so angry and always has an ornery look on her face.  It’s amazing how our attitudes affect those around us.  There’s a lot of pressure to be a happy parent.  I could always tell the influence a bad mood had on my children.  Mary expressed her gratitude for being given a positive outlook on life.

Do you remember in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town when Emily realizes that everyone is wasting their days and not grasping how important every second of every day is?  She says “Do any human beigns ever realize life while they life it?-  every, every minute?”  I love this play- especially the one w/ Paul Newman, but my point is this- sometimes it takes a life- changing experience to make us wake up and see how great our lives are.   We get so caught up in all the details that bring us down that we squander our time w/ the ones who mean the most to us.

I so appreciate the phone calls and today I received one from Trudy.  She and I have played tennis at the Sportmall for at least 20 years.  She has a very compassionate heart!  She asked me if I was afraid, and really yes, when I first got the diagnosis, fear clutched my heart but today, no and I think I understand why.  I know I have to go through pain and really fear won’t help me get through that  but I also have a really strong belief in the afterlife, that God is there and that we are eternal beings.

Thornton Wilder goes on to tell us this:

We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.

Susie Beaudoin came laden w/ materials about breast cancer.  I now have this great library of resources to access.  She also brought comfort items such as healthy smoothies, bars, green tea and bubbly bath.  I didn’t realize how much your need for warm food and drink, comfy clothes and blankets- physical comforts goes way up when you are dealing w/ illness.  Save that for a later blog!

Taylor and Katie living life atop a peak in Park City