Tag Archives: 2nd chance at life

February 10, 2026 · 8:14 pm

A Special Day for Me –

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One year ago I died twice in the ER in Arkansas. I had gone there at the insistance of one of the clinic doctors who was checking my husband and me for the flu. It turned out that my husband had Flu A and pneumonia. I had Flu A, bronchitis, and low blood oxygen. It was for the latter that the doc insisted I go to the ER. My husband was too sick to take me, so my good friend Carla took me.

That night my heart stopped twice. I woke up to see nurses standing around my bed asking if I was all right. I didn’t know what they were talking about, so they filled me in that I had to be brought back to life twice, and that the heart doctors were going to install a temporary pacemaker. They did, and then 3 days later, they installed a permanent one.

I have decided to start celebrating an “extra” birthday on February 11th each year, celebrating my 2nd chance at life. Today I’m celebrating by getting a mani/pedi. My son, Brian, wants me to color my nails ‘blue’ or ‘cyan’ again, but I think I’m going to go for purple. I’m enjoying getting to experiment and having something different each time!

Brian is making an appointment to get my pacemaker checked, and I have a routine appointment with my regular doctor on the 17th, so I’ll be all ready for a brand new year!

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Dying changes your perspective on things. It makes you so very grateful for all you have. It also allows you to shed a lot of things that you didn’t need to be carrying around with you. You look at life differently – forgiving yourself for not being perfect. You begin to accept a lot of things you used to get upset about, realizing that there are many things you can’t change, and that the world will go on with or without you. You learn to cherish all the beautiful things and people around you and hold them close. You make a commitment to enjoy yourself more, to concentrate on all that brings you joy. You shed whatever you can, simplifying your life down to the essentials. You change your priorities and learn not to be pressured. You smile more. You FEEL the happiness flow through you. You take the time to rest and breathe, drinking in the wonder of it all.

It has made ME more aware of my health and more committed to treating my body the very best way I can. That means paying more attention to what and how much I’m eating. I’m actually allowing myself some things I had given up in my quest to lose weight. Oddly, enough, that change – particularly going to twice a day eating and portion control – has made the difference on almost reaching goal on which I have been working for over two years now. I am exercising every day – at the gym and again at home – to improve my strength, balance, flexibility and more.

I am committed to joy, for myself and others. I realize how the happiness just spills out of me since I began making time for the things I love. Not just allowing myself a taste now and then, but embracing it and making it the priority of whatever life remains. My cheeks hurt at the end of the day from grinning from ear to ear.

I want you to know (the wisdom of a one-year-old) that you need not die in order to learn and practice this. You learn to practice it in little steps at first – maybe 15 minutes on your lunch break or one of the last things you do at night before bed, and then expand on it.

Give yourself this gift. Maybe even declare a 2nd birthday on the day you start!

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November 5, 2025 · 1:27 am

Destination?

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“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.” – C. Joybell C.

    My husband and I were living in the house we built on top of a ridge line and lived in with our pets for almost 40 years, trying to keep up with all the house and yard work needed to keep everything afloat. It wasn’t easy, but we were managing. Then we both got Flu A at the same time. My husband also had pneumonia. I also had bronchitis and low blood oxygen. I ended up in the hospital receiving an emergency pacemaker after my heart stopped twice in the ER. We contacted my son and he said he would come to help us, flying 24 hours from Thailand to Arkansas.

    A month later, we each packed a suitcase and a backpack, found wonderful, caring homes for our dog and cat, sold everything we owned and flew to Thailand to retire where we could be close to our son. Then my husband fell two weeks later, spent a month in the hospital and ended up in a nursing home.

    Feeling a bit like “Stranger in a Strange Land,” – Robert A. Heinlein, we’re making sure my husband is getting the best care possible and I’m living in a condo in the same building as our son. I’m working slowly on learning Thai phrases, am learning how to honor the culture and traditions here, and am fascinated by all I’m seeing and experiencing.

    I’m determined to embrace my new life. I was given a second chance at life by the hospital staff in February, and I won’t waste a minute. I am lucky that I am truly able to retire here. I never thought I would be able to say that. With careful juggling, I am enjoying perks here I never could afford in the States, such as a weekly housekeeper who scrubs my place until it shines; a weekly massage that takes out all the kinks and allows me to truly relax; my first-ever mani/pedi I get every 6 weeks or so; a haircut at the same interval; and recently, taking my clothes to the laundry to have them returned clean and nicely folded the following day.

    My son and I spend a good amount of time together. We share meals twice a day, we go visit my husband three times each week, we go places together to run errands or just have fun exploring. We go to the gym every morning so that I can walk a mile on the treadmill, trying to retrain my brain to fix my balance issues, lose my extra weight. I’m doing yoga stretches, Internet balance exercises, and dance to fun music with water bottles doing exercises for my arms.

    I plan my day around writing posts for my blog – an activity I truly love. I really enjoy finding things I find wonderful and sharing them with my readers. I have met some wonderful people I now feel close to through the blog, something I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

    I am learning to draw a bit better, sketching things I find on the net and painting them in an art alcove in my place. I read great books on my Kindle. I watch new and old movies on my TV, and love watching YouTube music videos. Music, new and old, is one of the treasures of my life.

    I have time to reach out to old friends and new now. I’m so lucky to have good friends in my life. Most of my family is gone now, but my friends are all around me, just a text away.

    So, I feel a bit suspended in mid air in a new country, with a different language, different customs, fascinating stores and food, learning new things each time I go out.

    I embrace not knowing any of the answers. I am learning to go with the flow, just enjoying all the differences and trying to fit in as best I can. The people are so nice here, so welcoming, so forgiving of my bumbling efforts to say a few things.

    As I learn, my wings are unfolding – I am learning and growing – grateful for the chance to build a whole new life – close to my husband and son.

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    July 31, 2025 · 3:50 am

    2nd Chance

    Very few of us get a ‘second chance’ in life. Usually, it’s ‘one and done,’ before we get a chance to feel we got all we wanted, did all we wanted to do.

    “There is always a second chance. It’s called today.” 

    I’m definitely one of the lucky ones. I died twice on February 11th in Fort Smith, Arkansas at the hospital where I was being treated for Flu A and bronchitis, plus low blood oxygen. My local clinic insisted I go to the ER and get checked out. My friend, Carla, drove me there. That night my heart stopped twice. I woke up to my bed surrounded by nurses, all asking if I was okay. They transferred me to the ICU and the heart people took over. I ended up with two surgeries – a temporary and then a permanent pacemaker.

    Dying got my attention. My priorities changed in an instant. We contacted our son in Thailand and asked that he come home to help us, since my husband and I were both really sick and unable to care for each other. We ended up selling all we owned and moving to Thailand to be with our son.

    Beginning a new life in a new country is overwhelming, particularly since our retirement plans were upended when my husband had a stroke April 8th and is now in a nursing home. I have a wonderful place that our son found for us in the same condo building where he lives.

    I am determined to make the most of my 2nd chance at life, filling every day with joy. I am thoroughly enjoying my retirement, spending as much of each day as possible doing things I love.

    • I’m trying to improve my drawing skills. I choose images from the net and try to reproduce them the best way I can, using pencils, colored pencils, and watercolors. I am under no pressure to produce artwork to sell anymore. I can embrace the simple joy of trying to do something better.
    • I am trying to learn some Thai phrases. Since my hearing is impaired, this is moving pretty slowly, but I have some video clips with which I practice every day, saying, “Hello,” and “Thank You” over and over, trying to capture the musical nature of the phrases and perfect my pronunciation. I will add new phrases as I can, trying to do as well as I can on each. I want to honor the culture here and the people I see daily by TRYING to speak their language and show how much I appreciate being here.
    • I am trying to improve my health. A little late, I know. I’m 78 and died twice, but I’m still kicking, so it’s not too late. I had a baseline clinic visit a couple of months ago to see where I was and what I needed to do. The doctor was concerned about blood pressure and weight primarily, and wanting me to exercise. I’m doing all that and am making pretty good progress, walking on the treadmill at the gym daily, doing yoga stretches, stretches my son showed me, and ones that my doctor showed me to strengthen my back.
    • I’m spending time doing silly things that I truly love, like trying to work a jigsaw puzzle. My husband hated me having one out and ‘in the way’ no matter where I had it, so I gave them up for several years. Now I have an owls puzzle that really intimidated me at first, but now I’m making reasonable progress. It’s on a table in my living area, right in the middle of everything – not bothering anyone. I love it.
    • I’m devoting some time daily to watching and listening to YouTube on TV. I wear headphones so I don’t bother anyone, but I’m a sucker for all the voice competition shows. I love spending time right before bed hoping people get the break they need to do what is important to them.
    • I’m taking the time to read. I have a sofa with a lounge built in. I sprawl – sometimes under my throw – and dive into another world for awhile.
    • I’m reaching out to friends and family, making sure they know how much they mean to me. I’m grateful for email and phone chat so that I can keep up with the people in the states.
    • I’m writing posts for my blog every day. I love finding things I think are wonderful and sharing them with my readers. It’s a high point of my day to write and then get feedback.

    I am embracing my second chance at life, trying to wring every drop of joy out of each day that I can. No one is promised tomorrow, so I will make today count.

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