Hope

Good bye August....HELLO the sweet possibilities of September.

I want to sort of put August 2011 to bed and never revisit her.

I have learned a lot from her.

I am going to visit people who can't get out and about. Being home alone, is well to put it simply lonely and boring and makes you crazy. Clearly, I have learned the meaning of the word "shut in".

My cooking skills are going to be utilized someday again. This time around I am always going to make double of almost everything. I am going to share with people who can't or don't know how to cook for themselves. Homemade food is so much more than just great flavors and colors.

I have learned that I will stop by and offer to iron for an hour or walk the dog or empty the dishwasher or get the mail. Seems simple, but it is a huge help when you can't get around easily.

Every little aliment takes on a new meaning. I have been battling a fever for two days. Seems all I can think about. Being well and healthy allows you the luxury of seeing a bigger picture.

September brings hope and the possibility of new ideas and thoughts and crafts. Sure I am a bit nervous about being alone for a week when Mr. Right heads to our nation's capital. Crazy to be this old and worried about staying alone?

I think the word for September will be, HOPE. It has a really nice ring to it.
I am going to embrace it.

wish

He wore a tangerine orange polo shirt. I mean really, really juicy orange. While in the hospital,
tethered to the bed, son number one came to visit me. The date was August 3rd, the day after
surgery. I was a little loopy, okay, maybe a lot loopy from the drugs.

I could feel his energy in the room. He brought a riot of colors in the way of a get well
bouquet. If shocking pinks, magentas, purples and wild greens don't get you on the road to recovery, I don't know
what will. He is a big guy, well over six feet tall, yet it is his energy that fills a room. It is what you
would imagine a race horse is like pawing at the dirt, waiting, just waiting for the gate to
slam open. I can actually feel him belly laugh. His voice is deep and I could feel the reverberations
when he and his Dad tease and laugh. Along with the flowers there was a card.

I "read" the card and smiled politely. A few moments later my nurse (her second day on the job as an RN) came into
the room and I gasped. I actually sucked in my breath and was clear headed for a brief moment.
The nurse rushed over and was worried. I needed her help to get that card back. I wanted to re-read
that card. She must have thought I had gone really crazy. I grabbed at the get well
card. I gasped again. She looked anxious. Then I read it out loud to her.

They had written all the "right" things. Get well soon, hope you are up and about quickly,
take care, anything we can do for you just ask, and on and on.....good penmanship, easy
to focus and read.......then at the very bottom edge of the card it was written very plainly,
save the date, March 30th.

My nurse was from Poland. So she looked confused at me again thinking , lady you are drugged and
crazy. I told her what it meant. It means I am going to be a grandma AGAIN!!! March 30th,
we are going to be Grandparents all over again! I did a rendition of a Happy Dance in my mind
(as I was not able to physically move yet).

My nurse quickly left and come to find out ran out to tell her supervisor that she thought she got
caught up in the middle of a private family moment and what should she do. The head RN told her
to be happy and join the celebration! The next time they both came in they were smiling and happy
and congratulated us. It was a good moment.

Side note: The day before surgery, both boys and girls phoned to say hello and good luck. They
wished me well and then talked to their Dad. They all asked if there was something they could do
to cheer me up. Mr. Right trying to lighten the mood, told them jokingly, well.......I know one thing that
would make her super happy....if you told her she was to be a Grandma again. hahaha Two kids thought
that was silly and funny. Two kids just laughed politely. We now know who was keeping a
secret.

Moral of the story, careful what you wish for, it might just come true!

Faith

Faith is: having a girlfriend bring me a present of a brand new red Schwinn bike bell for your red bicycle. Even though I am still using a walker.

It feels nice to have girlfriends believe in you.