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Saturday, Nov 28, 2009 Empty cafeteria trays Counting my blessings this long Thanksgiving weekend. We’ve been in Idaho surrounded by family and good food, college football playing out on television, and lots of conversations and laughter.
I think the balance is having gratitude for the “so much” that is a normal part of our everyday lives and looking for opportunities to be in service.
Which reminds me of a story a friend told from his college days: It seems he and his buddies went through the cafeteria line without taking any food … and then sat with empty trays in protest of world hunger. “But,” our friend pointed out, “empty cafeteria trays don’t feed hungry people.” You have to get up and do something.
We are part of a family that has given generously and been in service at various times and places around the world – a good heritage passed down through the generations, which is just one more thing I’m grateful for this special time of year.
Tuesday, Nov 24, 2009 These are a few of my favorite things
knitting winter scarves for people I love, clear blue hiking days, reading by the fireplace, conversations with Gary and our adult children, weekends at the coast ... actually, the list is quite long.
Tonight is Friday although the calendar says Tuesday, which is also one of my favorite things. Tomorrow, instead of going to work, Gary and I are headed east to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving surrounded by family ...needless to say, another favorite thing and something we haven’t done in a while because Gary’s worked the day after Thanksgiving for the past few years.
But you want to know the best favorite thing of all?! The dark cancer cloud on the horizon has moved further away (see Nov 8 blog).
Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving with lists of favorite things so long, you can’t see the end.
Saturday, Nov 21, 2009 Counting eagles There’s a place where the Deschutes River empties out of Crane Prairie Reservoir on its way to Wickiup. We packed a lunch and dressed in layers (the temperature in town didn’t get above 38 degrees today) ... and went eagle-counting.
There were at least a dozen eagles hanging out in the tall trees across the river, swooping low over the water looking for a fresh salmon catch. Gary shot photos until his fingers were numb, while I, trusty photographer assistant, polished off my lunch.
Speaking of 38 degree temps, what better excuse to put a pot of homemade soup on to simmer and try a new scone recipe when we got home. According to my friend, Anita with the lovely British accent who immigrated to the US as a young nurse, proper English scones are not hard and triangular like what you would find at Starbux, but soft and round and oftentimes served with soup ... much like a flavored biscuit, says Anita.
So keeping with the season, I found a pumpkin-flavored scone recipe that featured cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Hot out of the oven, we broke them open and ate them with butter and honey alongside bowls of chicken vegetable soup.
Gary, being the expert meteorologist, just looked outdoors and reported that it’s snowing. Is there any wonder why this is my favorite time of year?! Snow falling, hot Pumpkin Spice Scones, homemade soup, counting eagles ... it just doesn’t get much better than this!
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 America’s best and brightest Gary and I spoke to 40+ of America’s best and brightest yesterday afternoon. They laughed at all the right places, asked great questions, even let us poke fun of them a little: So, did you all call each other this morning and say, “Wear your green scrubs!”?
forgot to bring her diabetes meds and was losing it fast ... or the time in Frankfurt when they weren’t going to let one of my international students on the plane back to America because her visa had expired and I had to stay behind to find the American embassy and get this girl’s visa fixed. And then there was the time ... wait a minute, I’m off point.)
The point is, a good deal of the young people we’ve known personally are amazingly terrific and visionary ... and joking around with this class of nursing students reminded us of the potential and energy young people have for making a difference in the world, especially those who have chosen a career path of compassionate service.
Side note: We didn’t bring a camera to yesterday’s presentation; the photo above was borrowed from a college Web site. Be assured, though, that the Bend, Oregon nursing students were just as happy looking as this group of students. We’re really hoping we don’t get sued for this.
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 Thinking about It was a fun adventure – navigating the subways and streets of The City, not as tourists, but as appointment-keepers. We had places to go and people to meet!
We just returned from New York where we spoke to an engaged group of survivors at Gilda’s Club, and the next day met with personnel at CancerCare, the nation’s longest-running cancer organization. The Director of the Men’s Cancers programs made the comment about how much more effective our message is coming from someone who is actually living it. I love that this social worker with lots of initials after his name gets that. (They talked about hosting a survivorship event in March 2010 where we would be guest presenters.)
Our grandkids took us to Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular, which was ... well, spectacular. And then Saturday was all grandkids, all day. Breakfast out, up-for-adoption puppies at Petco, a visit with Santa while Mrs. Claus chatted on her cell phone (only in Jersey), Barnes & Noble books and hot beverages.
And in between, we planted ourselves on the living room floor at eye level with the littlest munchkin, who kept us entertained with her antics and constant stream of chatter. Favorite thing to do: climb up on a chair and hold her arms up, saying, “More down!” which means, I want down so I can climb back up.
"More down!"
They say if you draw a 50-mile radius around where our adult children live, about 10% of the US population lives within that circle. Other than the fact that Gary’s family would never speak to us again, how much sense does it make to be based close to a dense population (not to mention the grandkids) where there are so many organizations doing so many good things for people dealing with cancer?
And so Gary and I are thinking about moving to NYC, only Gary doesn’t know it yet. I’ll let you know how that goes. ;)
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009 Large amounts of hope I heard Gary describe this week’s meeting with Dr. Beer at Oregon Health & Science University to one of my co-workers: “There’s this dark cloud that hangs off in the horizon, and now it’s moved further away.”
At Tuesday’s appointment, we learned there are a few other options before Gary would have to consider chemo, including some promising drugs that are starting through the FDA approval process.
So much hope dispensed in just one short hour.
Coming back to work after being out of the office for two days is always a challenge – stacks of stuff on my desk, way too many e-mail and v-mail, a meeting that lasted too long on Wednesday evening.
And then there’s the rewarding and fun part of my job – such as this week’s set-up for the annual Wendy’s Wish holiday boutique.
My hat, if I were wearing one, is off to Al Huntley and all the worker bees on the team. Part of my job in the CTC involves being the face of the hospital to this group of dedicated people. But it is more than just a job. Gary and I joined Al & Marcia Huntley and the full team at Old Towne Pizza last night in a celebratory dinner following another successful fundraising boutique. We were honored to be in such company.
Bend, Oregon is an amazing community full of big-hearted people. There are many touched by cancer, like those on the Wendy’s Wish team, that are going about the business of showing compassion and providing hope to others dealing with this disease.
There’s that word again: hope.
Tuesday, Nov 3, 2009
I just finished reading a book by Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. The author writes about our lives as story. When the credits roll at the end, will people leave the theater inspired or bored? Will our story show that we amassed a house and a couple of cars and some really cool toys ... or that we lived an adventure and built strong relationships?
“We have to get off the couch and turn the television off,” writes Miller. “We have to blow up the inner-tubes and head to the river. We have to write the poem and deliver it in person. ... We have to put on our suits; we have to dance at weddings.”
Sunday, Nov 1, 2009 Married to a very patient man Gary lied to me. He said we could get up at our leisure and leave whenever we felt like it. But he’s put his overnight bag in the vehicle and just asked if the laptop was ready to go. Obviously he can’t see that I’m still typing on it.
Gary’s last day at Nature’s General Store was Friday and they gave him a gift certificate for two nights on the Oregon coast. So, with a quick call to my boss’s cell phone to change my requested days off, we are spending tonight and tomorrow night in Newport. On Tuesday, we’ll swing by Oregon Health & Science Univ for an appointment with Dr. Beer, the prostate cancer researcher who told us that Gary would probably qualify for one of his clinical trials.
I'm married to a very patient man. Gary will never say, “When are you going to be ready?” But he’ll rattle the keys in his pocket, maybe even open the garage door and start the engine as a way of saying, “Are we ready yet?”
So I’m thinking I’d better get going, even though I’m not sure how he’s planning to fill in all the spare time before we can check in. But I’ll let him worry about that because he has taken good care of me all these years. I’m coming, honey!
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