The Silver Lining

Remember that *rush* you felt, when you were 16, and you'd just passed your driving test?  That license -- still warm from the laminator -- fresh in your hand, gave you a new-found freedom.  You could DRIVE! I remember the day I got my license in 1972.  The examining officer in our town had a reputation for NEVER giving a 16-year-old a license on their first try.  I was nervous when my mom took me to the little white cinder-block building that served as the Highway Patrol Office.  Sure enough, there was Officer P. -- sitting at a cluttered desk, typing rapidly with his index fingers only -- which I thought was absolutely absurd, and stifled a giggle!  He growled at us to sit down and wait, he was busy.  I wiped the snicker off my face and did as he ordered.  Rat-a-tat-tat went the manual typewriter -- pounding on my 16-year-old nerves.  Then another officer came in the building.  He looked at me and my mom, smiled, then said, "Hey,...

We had a really busy week last week.  I tried to schedule a few down days, to recoup my energy in between some events we had going on -- I'm learning to be aware of not over-scheduling things. Wednesday we had an appointment at Duke with Dr. Raja.  This is a LONG trip for us -- it is 4 hours' drive from our home to Durham.  Our appointment was late afternoon, so we packed up for staying overnight IF we decided to do that.  We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and arrived at the clinic just a few minutes early.  I was happy to be able to walk into the place on my own steam this time!  My first visit, 3 months ago, I was wheelchair bound and on oxygen 24/7. July, 2018 October, 2018 Dr. Raja was quite pleased with my progress; so were we!  I'm continuing on the same medicine regimen for the time being.  We will likely try reducing the prednisone again  in a few weeks.  She noted I had gained 5 pounds in three...

May 30 - Mid-June, 2018 Back home after vacation, there are always a million things to catch up with. A mountain of laundry, grass that needs to be cut, bills that need to be paid, special chores and projects -- all vying for attention.  We both threw ourselves in to getting our home ready for the summer.  We joke around that we run a Bed and Breakfast during the summer months -- we bought this house because it had plenty of room for guests and we actually do have a lot of visitors! Some days I'd wake up and my vision was fine.  But most days, it would eventually split and I'd be seeing double.  I found it difficult to finish tasks -- just trying to SEE was frustrating and exhausting. But I pushed through. The last day of May, I drove to my daughter Melody's house for an overnight visit.  Grandson Carter's school was having a Spring Celebration, and I was invited to go to the festivities!  I had a good time visiting that Thursday evening, reading ...

May 20-25, 2018 We walked through the doors of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport and the sultry late spring air hit us like a smack to the face.  Ahhh NOLA, it's good to see you again! We'd been planning this trip for MONTHS.  Our friends Joe and Theresa were meeting us there.  Joe and David served together in the USMC years ago; last year we visited with them in New Jersey and began making our plans for New Orleans then. We checked into Bienville House, in the French Quarter.  Recently renovated, it was a lovely place to stay -- and within an easy walk to just about anything we wanted to do. Our plans included lots of the sights, sounds, and tastes that New Orleans is famous for. The Katrina Museum, the steamboat Natchez, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, St. Louis Cathedral -- just a few of the things on our "NOLA Bucket List" -- all just waiting for us! You can't talk about New Orleans without mentioning FOOD.  David is a "foodie...