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Friday, October 30, 2009 Healing reins I’m thinking about changing careers – something along the lines of horse stunt person. Today I rode a large moving horse without a saddle, going from a sitting position to a kneeling position. Did I mention the large horse was moving?
I love sky’s-the-limit opportunities. More to come!
Sunday, October 25, 2009 Trail to nowhere We had a Plan "A" when we left home—to hike as far around Elk Lake as the trail would allow—and we packed everything we needed for this plan. But because someone blockaded the roads and closed an entire lake, we went to Plan "B". The only problem was, we didn't have a map for Plan "B".
From the Plan "B" trailhead, we took off uphill for about a mile before we came to a sign that pointed out a couple different options – Pacific Coast Trail and Moraine Lake this way; Sisters Mirror Lake that way. But no indication of how many miles to either location.
Ironically, when we speak about our cancer team and the importance of getting plugged into community, Gary compares it to hiking—Whenever we go on a new hike, he says, we like to talk with someone who can tell us what to expect along the way. And then he says that it’s the same with cancer – It’s good to talk with someone who’s walked that trail ahead of you.
And now we have a truer sense of the importance of those words.
P.S. I looked up the Elk Lake Resort Web site after we got home. Sure enough, they’re closed for remodeling and promised to open again after they get 3 feet of snow. Even if you had read this notice beforehand, you would have thought the resort was closed, not the entire lake, right?
Thursday, October 22, 2009 Above the fray There’s an enclosed stairwell with tall windows on the west side of the hospital that's rarely used. (Why—if you’re a hospital employee—would you do anything so healthy as climb the stairs when you could ride the elevator?)
The fray is everyday life and isn’t always a bad thing. Dirty diapers, for example. No dirty diapers would probably mean no children, which I couldn’t imagine … and we wouldn’t have these terrific children-in-law or these adorable grandchildren. So dirty diapers can be a good thing.
I often have above-the-fray moments. Like a week ago when stress was high at work and I slipped away and met Gary for a speaking engagement at a local business. The audience was small but engaged, and the interaction refreshed my spirit and provided a healthy perspective of the good things going on in our lives.
Today, we had another above-the-fray moment – a lunch appointment with a husband and wife who are hopefully putting cancer treatments behind them for good. Their eyes lit up when we mentioned our dream of establishing a cancer education and retreat center. They have passions that fit our dream and would love to be involved.
These moments serve to remind me that we are called to something beyond a punch-a-clock world; something much larger than we are; something that will come to pass against all odds.
Monday, October 19, 2009 Knitting connections I shamelessly stole an idea from Gilda’s Club in Manhattan and planned a 6-week pilot program that began this evening in the Barnes & Noble Café. Back in June, Gary and I met with the Program Director at Gilda’s Club – a community that does some pretty cool things for people of all ages dealing with cancer.
Among their support offerings, they have volunteer-led classes – art, writing, dance, exercise. The Program Director explained that these courses become support groups by default as the same people attend week after week and relationships are built.
There’s something about women connecting – whether it’s over knitting or golf or sharing motherhood adventures. I think it’s a combination of companionship and undergirding and teamwork mixed with empathy, but it’s something wonderful that women do so well for each other.
None of us wanted to leave when it was time, but next Monday evening we’ll be back at the B&N Café in Bend, Oregon. Join us!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Touching everything, taking nothing There was a rabbi, an inner-city pastor, and a sportswriter. Sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it’s actually the true story of a writer, Mitch Albom, who reconnects with his Jewish faith and inadvertently becomes involved with an African-American minister.
Reb—the nickname Mitch and his friends had given to the rabbi when he was a tall, imposing figure and they were just school kids—was now 82 and thinking about who he wanted to deliver his eulogy. Mitch was recruited for the job.
And so begins a journey of 8 years’ worth of trips from Detroit, Albom’s current hometown, back to the place of his growing-up years.
Albom beautifully weaves these stories together – his own upbringing, the life of the rabbi and the life of the pastor.
There is a point toward the end of the book when Reb, now age 90, knows he is nearing death. Mitch visits him at his home and finds him going through his library of treasured books, moving from pile to pile, looking and remembering.
Something that Mitch writes makes me think beyond piles of library books: "If you could pack for heaven, this is how you’d do it, touching everything, taking nothing."
Sunday, October 11, 2009 Modern technology brings Jersey to the Oregon wilderness
So yesterday, a gorgeous autumn day, we packed layers and headed back up into the mountains. What we didn't count on was so much snow. We didn't need our snowshoes, but walking 4.5 miles uphill in several inches of snow wearing heavy hiking boots proved to be a good work-out. Too good of a work-out.
So, I'm fumbling through the 20-something pockets in my hiking pants looking for my chirping cell phone. New Jersey was calling. It was the sweet voice of our 8-year-old granddaughter, Lilly.
"Where are you, girlfriend?!" I ask. She says she's hanging out at home with her baby sister.
"I'm on top of a mountain!" I exclaim.
"Oh," she says, not as properly impressed as she should be.
So there you have it – modern technology brings New Jersey to the Oregon wilderness. And modern technology created these photos that we could download and send back out into space the same day. I love the 21st century!
Saturday, October 10, 2009 Hot date spot If you haven’t already done so, you might want to add REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) to your list of romantic Friday night date spots.
Here’s a Camelbak fact that may come in handy some day, you never know: It seems Michael Edison came up with the idea after competing in the “Hotter ‘N Hell” cycle race in Texas. His first CamelBak consisted of an IV bag stuffed into a bike sock with some metal piping running out of it. The entire contraption was stitched to the back of a T-shirt so he wouldn’t have to fumble with a water bottle while riding a bike.
There are hydration bags (such as the one I have that works quite fine, thank you) … and there are backpacks with hydration bags inserted that leave room for other items that perhaps the husband is carrying into the wilderness without much help from the wife.
Those of you who know Gary are already way ahead of me. It seems his logic is, that in buying me a new backpack with a hydration bag and room to pack in lunches and extra layers and other wilderness stuff, it makes a nice little birthday gift for him.
Off to try out Gary's new birthday present!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009 I got all my sisters with me For the past 16 years during breast cancer awareness month (October, if you haven’t figured that out by now), St. Charles has hosted a dinner, auction and fashion show to raise funds for the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Project. My job includes working with the hospital foundation and community volunteers in facilitating this event.
Earlier in the evening, Kelly Corrigan told how she was grateful for cancer and how—if she had to do it all over again—she would choose cancer because it had made her less self-centered.
Gary and I would have to say the same. We would choose to deal with cancer and all the challenges and tears and hard conversations because it has molded us into different people. And frankly, I like these people better.
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