Sept. 12, 2003 - 19:37 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Small Ideas

I often ponder on the vicissitudes that tick away at my life. Most of them are things that everyone encounters in a lifetime. Some of them unique, some happy, and some even happily unique ! Happily unique for me that is as what happens to me happens only to me, usually. Or maybe my reaction to situations is uniquely mine. Anyhow, I think about things that happen to me, ponder about them and wonder at their arrangement.

A good part of this year has been stressful, yet many good and joyous things happened in between the white knuckled times.

Both Heather and I have had our sick spells, her's worse than mine, we went to the doctors and obeyed their instructions and took our medicines. This year has been a continuation of trying to find the source of Heather's pain. One thing our HMO did recently was run a test that demonstrated her gall bladder is not working properly and will have to come out. After many cancelled appointments with her surgeon she finally got in to see him. The date for surgery was set by the end of last week. The 23rd of September -- not too far away.

Our youngest son Rob who had cancer of the larynx and underwent a rather intensive course of radiation just had "clean up surgery" today and the tissue removed was sent to biopsy. Results -- cancer free. Recovery from the radiation will take a bit of time including testing to see how his thyroid has been affected, dosage of medication for thyroid will be as needed. But now he can gather back his strength and vigor. A family thing, everyone was there who could get off work for moral support when he was operated on. After he came out of recovery his middle sister took him home while Heather and I went by the supermarket for bottled water, Pepsi Cola and a chicken hot off the rotisserie. Of course Mom and his sister will be house keeping while he strengthens and supplying good meals. The daughter in town and her husband were there with her daughter, and her sister came up from Colorado Springs with her two babies. Heather's brother called from Idaho on his arrival from Denver to let us know he made it okay, and the second thing he did was to ask, "How did Rob do on his surgery today ?"

Yesterday was Heather's brother's funeral and on such short notice there were more people attending than we expected to be there. Heather and I had visited him at his house for about two years after his wife's death. He had a pacemaker and was diabetic, so it was doctor's appointments, prescription refills and trips to the grocery store with us driving him around. Often we were just live bodies, visiting and passing the time of day with him. Of course Heather is saddened but I think she is doing well with it. She said once, "Our priorities are for the living." Seemed to me to be the proper way to look at things.

This year we celebrated our sixtieth wedding anniversary with family gathered from all around, including our daughter and her family from Eugene, Oregon. In fact we had her and her daughter with us for a bit over a month, grandson and his Dad were on a trip to Poland during that time but returned in time for daughter's birthday.

Somehow we all seem to do things in bunches, birthdays, anniversaries and whatever, seem to get coupled together when they are close and occur on Saturday or Sunday, regardless of the actual date. I remember one birthday party we went to where there were three cakes, ten million screaming, scampering kids and one adult birthday honoree, all the adults there were either parents or grandparents of one or another of the kids (including the adult honoree) at the party and the birthday adult had to survive the ruckus. Remarkably we had a good time, even so. All our kids are in good health or on their way to be so.

All in all this will be a very busy year for us, almost busier than working for a living. Many things have gone on not mentioned, but thought of by me, bemused by all those events in such a short time. Small potatoes compared to the things going on in the world of course, but because those little things are what happened to us they seem to be felt more deeply. However our attention has been on what is happening in the world and country and it periodically worries us the way things are going.

Sitting here, going through the calender and thinking and giving birth to Small Ideas . . . . . . . . . .

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