naples 2011-2012

christmas 2011

i went to tucker,ga to be with ryanne and her folks. christmas with her is magical. she came to my room when she woke up."come on, grandma" she said as she shagged me out of my bed. luckily her folks heard the commotion. santa had come! eyes full of wonder and delight, she went from one gift to another. the umbrella stroller for baby was a big hit.

nguashima played her flute during church services. beautiful tones. walter and she had prepared a lot of the dinner items the day before. we set up the tables. ryanne is great at setting out the napkins and silverware.
family and friends arrived and we enjoyed every morsel they offered. each year shows the growth in height and self-hood of the children. i love that my daughter has created so many happy memories for her extended family.

i spent a few more days there and then headed up to michigan. saw bath and sr. ann.and jerry. got a bad cold and so the days were spent at home trying to get better.

then back to naples and the remainder of the season.

my cousin and friend judy slater

in the fall,i went to north dakota to spend more time with john and judy. they have a lovely home in minot. john worked from home and was out on the road for almost a week while i was there.

judy and i were never at a loss for conversation or for something to do. we had lunch with her friends, english tea, at sylvia's and a trip to see her good friend patty. the days flew by and we savored each one.

the night we came home from visiting patty, judy was tired. we both dozed off in our recliners. when she awakened, she stretched back and had an "event" that i had not seen in all my nursing years. it wasn't a seizure. she didn't lose consciosness. it was cardiac related. we went to bismark the next day and reported the behavior to her cardiologist. he was unable to re-create it.

there is a limit on how often you can replace a pacemaker. judy's was failing her. that didn't slow her down. she continued to live life full tilt.
we made and canned salsa and refrigerator raspberry jam. did i mention that we were aunt agnes' personal assistants/chauffeur? we made meals for extended family get togethers. i was so happy to be with her.

my mom always talked about judy in endearing terms. i,too,grew to love this incredible expression of God's love!

at thanksgiving time,she went to abbot-north western in minnesota for a second opinion about the need for a pacemaker replacement. once they did testing, they were amazed that she was able to do all she repoted doing. they thought a transplant was in order. meanwhile,they did a valve replacement and pacemaker replacement. it was on my birthday that she had a stroke to her brain stem. all of sudden,unexpectedly, she was respirator dependent.

after talking things over with her daughter,tracey, john asked that she be removed from life support. she would never have wanted to live like that,
when john texted me that "heaven has another angel", i was stunned. her greatest concern was that she might have a stroke. she did and now she was gone from our sight.

judy slater was my favorite cousin by marriage. she was all that she could be-wife,mother,daughter,friend,neighbor and totally available to all. my life was enriched by her. i'm so grateful for the times we had.

66th birthday

"dress nicely. it's kind of dressey." kath was taking me out for lunch to celebrate my birthday. we'd had our usual morning, extended breakfast and then to planet fitness to exercise. once home,we changed and left for town.\

we parked on fifth avenue and walked to a little tea house. kath spoke to the hostess and then headed for a table. i followed. there were toni and pansie,,,big as life! this was the gift...lunch with friends. lovely! lively conversations and lots of laughter. turning 66 was easy.

thanks-giving

thanksgivng....giving thanks. earlier this week i asked kath what we'd be doing for thanksgiving. she was non-commital. how could we miss celebrating the one day dedicated to being grateful? here we are in florida enjoying a simple but rich life. we are eating well and exercising regularely. we have a friendship that many only wish for. we have loads of reasons to be thank-full. tuesday i bought a turkey and we were on our way to a great meal. we invited pansie,don and jane woodruff. we served a traditional meal and i was most grateful to be celebrating.

our lives are blessed. our friends are a blessing. all reasons to celebrate thanksgiving day. amen!

the test of a friendship

when tom died,kath asked me if i'd go to florida with her for the winter. i said "yes". now we are the brink of that winter. we'll leave next week. the plan is to visit friends and family along the way.
we have been friends for thirty years and more. it will be a test of our friendship.
our plan is eat more healthily and to exercise. resolve is a process. so we'll start with food and work up to exercise. she is my good friend. if i must make this journey, i'm glad it's with her.

north dakota girl

went to n.d. for memorial day. mary,mike,jim,will,grace and i drove there. we stayed in the twin cities the first night and with john and judy the rest of our stay. we went to bottineau via lignite and our oil well visit. judy's brother,ted, works with a rig and he explained the fraking process to us in layman's terms. dangerous.

we drove up to see aunt mary and uncle albert. judy took mary,mike and jim to the peace gardens. will and grace created a fort in the back yard. they spent 2-3 hours in an imaginary world. they were so excited to share it with grandma,grandpa and dad, it was an afternoon to remember. time with aunt mary is never enough.

john and judy gave us the royal treatment with a country breakfast and a grilled ham dinner. we saw maynard and aunt agnes but the time was not enough for me. our time was limited because the kids had to be home for some event with their mom.

i wanted more time with my aunts and cousins. judy and i have so much fun together sooooo i took the train and went back for a three week visit. it was delightful. judy and john made me feel right at home. judy and i spent days visiting her friends, shopping and canning jam and salsa. she took me back to bottineau. we visited aunt mary and uncle al. we took aunt mary to the casino. she was lucky and made 40 bucks. the drive home to minot was in the pitch dark. we made it without a hitch.

i knew judy's heart was compromised but i didn't realize how sick she was. she lived each day to the full and brought me along. one night after visiting her friend in bullah, she had an episode of jerking movements that resembled a seizure without the post ictal phase. i asked her if thaat had happened before- "yes". we went for her scheduled cardiology appt. in bismark the next morning. her pacemaker was failing. there was a frayed wire which might have caused the above episode. the plan is for her to get a second opinion in minnisota. meanwhile she is going to live her life as usual.

judy calls me her good friend and that is true, but i call her my cousin. i could call her my sister because the bond we share is so precious. i look forward to more visits with john and judy in the months ahead. maybe we'll go ice fishing!