My mother found her BFF in the sixth grade in Newark, NJ, in 1934.

Aunt Gini was kin, although she was never blood. The two women stood up for each other in their weddings.

Uncle George died of lung disease when I was a teen. He is also the reason I test positive for tuberculosis to this day. But she was always Mom's BFF. The two of them were visiting us when I was diagnosed with cancer. I credit Aunt Gini's sway for that going down smoothly with my mother.

In 1989, I rented Aunt Gini's Lavalette, NJ, vacation home for a respite after a computer user conference in Dallas TX. We were visited with the tail-end of a hurricane. My "cousin" T came down the Shore (from Maplewood) to ease his boat's mooring lines. It was an interesting night. The house, and the boat, made it through.

Aunt Gini came to visit Mom in her last days. She spent hours reminding my mother about all the fun they had as kids, adolescents, young ...

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Some time ago I asked you all to bid on some boxes hobbitt was making to help raise funds for a young family to adopt a Down Syndrome baby girl from abroad.

They met their goal and brought Lainey home! And we all helped!

But then something happened. Without going into personal details, let's just say the the new parents weren't in synch with each other about Lainey, and something had to give.

Nevertheless, Lainey found a new home with her respite family, who are adopting her as we speak. They've already raised a Down Syndrome child and are older and very well prepared. I mostly knew the mom, LE. Her heart is in a dark place, as I'm sure is her husband AE.

Essentially, so's mine. But I know we all did good. All the way down to LE and AE.

Thank you. Thought you should know. Please pray for their hearts to be lightened again.

C

 

I wrote a message here about the assimilation of Zoey, our new baby, a pit bull mix.

And it vanished. I'm sure I hit a wrong key. Whatever.

She's a gem. The cats will figure this out in due time.

It was the right time, and it was the right dog. She's a keeper.

Blah blah, yadda yadda.

18 years. 18 years ago today some cute but somewhat smug young surgeon said, "It's a good thing we went in. We found a little cancer in there."

I don't remember much from the next three days. But every day since then has been precious whether in joy or pain.

Precious.

Love people. Tell them. Don't hold back.

If you can't help the crazy, walk away. Do not allow yourself to be abused, misused, disrespected, or even ignored.

Live it.

That is all I got for another year. Cheers! And Kurt and you others, come and catch up!

That is all, and just because.

Some of you might remember BDB, and probably a lot of you are friends with her over at the other place.

Most of you know she's been dealing with Crohn's disease for 20 years. Since she was 18. I cannot imagine how hard her struggle has been.

She'll be walking to raise money for Crohn's research. BDHubby will be joining her for the walk. She's put up a post offering a place to make donations. Please help if you can.

My personal interest is this: my only niece is also learning to manage Crohn's. She's struggled with her health and her weight for a long time (some of you have met her - Meredith), and only in the past couple of years has she gotten the proper diagnosis. She's just 26.

Click here if you want to read BDB's story and help her out. Thanks.

Thank you to the folks who bid on items in Alaina's Fundraisers! We're shipping your swag early this coming week. You guys rock!
 
There are more items now, and more to be added on an on-going basis. Bid early and often - and if you do leave a bid, let Lauren know that you're a friend of mine. It'll help her track you down when/if you have the winning bid.

Love you guys. Always and all ways.

Today marks seventeen years of surviving cancer. Yes, me.

I'm still waiting to find out what the plan is. Oh well.



Now go bid on some boxes. Love you all!

I've mentioned here and elsewhere about the young family we know who are adopting a Down Syndrome orphan from Russia. To that end they are raising funds for their flights, and immigration and dossier fees. They're selling t-shirts ("I just helped save an orphan") and a local church is doing a bake sale just for them. Other folks are donating or making items for their silent auction site. Some are just Chipping In.

So, yes! I'm asking for money again! Only this time, there's a premium for you over and above that awesome feeling you get from helping your fellow earthlings. Right! Chocolates, and one of hobbitt's boxes! One of them has cover papers made by our own MsJudi, the mixed media and textile artist at Approachable Art.

Or, a hand-made photo album from Watermark Bindery in Pete Townsend ...

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Read this. It's a bit long. I'll wait.
 
 
 
 
A long-time dear friend sent me this link today. I read the blog several times. I read the comments several times. I kept saying to myself "There but for the grace....."
 
One of the things that stood out for me in this blog comments was the notion of "gaslighting." This past summer I was subjected to verbal abuse by a friend's husband, probably because I knew something he did not. (That gas fireplaces open so you can clean them. Silly me. I was showing her how to do so, after he'd claimed it could not be opened.) Afterwards he gaslighted her by saying he was annoyed because SHE had failed to pay attention years ago when he tried to ...

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I am overwhelmed with holiday spirit. I am undone by human kindness. I am humbled by every smile I've seen in the past days.

I think you're responsible. I do.

Thank you, my Peeps.

Time for the annual update.

I just finished year 16 of surviving cancer. Starting off on year 17.

Daring Hippie and Kurtster and others to catch me up. Hoping they will.

to all my friends for accompanying me on this journey.

Okay. This one is for the clever, the punny, the word-creatives and sloganeers. Help!

JeffCo Master Gardeners has 3 big fundraisers (all funds then used to award grants locally) each year and the biggest is the Secret Garden Tour.

Secret, because until you get your ticket (which is your map), it's a surprise whose gardens will be open to the public (600) that day. We usually net around $6k, get lots of good press, and the whole town feels good. Since I've been a master gardener, it's always taken place in town, and is largely walkable, and definitely bike-friendly.

Pete Townsend is a somewhat remote town at the north end of the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County. Population is about 9k, more or less. It is the only incorporated town in the county. The population of the entire county is less than 40k - and a good chunk of that is on the west side, in Twlight Land, 2 hours away on the other side of the ...

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Can be read about here. Don't expect a travelogue, though.

Thanks to everyone who invited me, everyone who hosted, and a special hug to those of you I missed along the way.

If you're FB'd, you got the message. Otherwise, please PM me. One of our most loving members could use some help taking care of a family member. Thanks.

I've known Frank and his daughters for 30 years. Well, I also knew his first wife and his son, both deceased, and his daughter-in-law, deceased, since that time, too. It was a friendship between my first husband and Pat, Frank's late wife, that brought us all together. Pat and my ex, Craige, were fast friends, and we were quickly assimilated into the family.

As time passed and Craige and I said our civil goodbyes, I got to keep the friends. To be honest, Craige was devoted to his education and to academia, and to his new family, so basically I was able to keep up with those that had been our friends. I truly lucked out with this family here in Akron.

I came to Akron to help Pat out after she'd had back surgery, fetching her morning coffee, seeing to it that she tested her blood sugar and took her insulin. She welcomed hobbitt, at first reluctantly, then exuberantly once she got to know him. We were frequent visitors here when we lived ...

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I'll let Justine say it.

Yesterday my friend Patty in Ohio remembered that she wanted to take a rose, a special rose, to the Atlantic Ocean and toss it into the water for you, but when she was out east, she forgot amid all the hustle and bustle of the trip. So she asked me to do it, knowing that I was heading that way.

We arrived tonight at the Jersey Shore and set out to run some errands. The moon was just about full, the tide was very high, and the sunset was going to be really gorgeous, so of course we had to get ourselves down to the beach right away. The name of the place is Avon-by-the-Sea, and it's where I learned to swim. My mom used to take us to the beach every day, all day, all summer long, from the time I was first out of diapers.

There is an inlet to the Shark River just to the south of the beach in Avon, and Ocean Avenue crosses a drawbridge there. When I was a little girl I was at first really afraid of the drawbridge, and would ...

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