Tag Archives: faith

October 13, 2025 · 4:14 am

Light

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“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”
— Leonard Cohen

I have read so many things about people ‘looking for happiness.’ If they just have _______________ (fill in the blank), they’ll be happy. They look to someone else to provide it for them. They look everywhere and unfortunately don’t find it. Their lives end with them still reaching for it.

One thing I have learned is that – as Leonard Cohen has said – a crack lets the light in.

As we all know, life is not perfect. We are all surrounded by life’s ‘cracks,’ things that might even bring us to our knees, thinking there is no way we’ll have light in our lives again. The thing I’ve learned is that the light comes from within you – as your strength does to live with life’s cracks. I can always see or sense people who have learned this. There is a deeper, more knowledgeable, more forgiving look in their eyes. We communicate immediately, acknowledging that knowledge and strength with no words needed.

When we discover we have ‘something’ inside that helped us so much, we must do several things: one – recognize the light; two – do everything we can to make that light shine brighter and brighter within us, making us grateful for all we have; and three – share that light with others. Offering it is the important thing. They may not be ready for it, but the fact that you’re there, and you care, IS the important thing.

My former mother-in-law was the role model for me.

When she and my father-n-law were in the process of moving to an assisted living facility, we were driving there together. I asked her how she felt about the move. She immediately answered, “I’m going to love it.” My surprise must have shown on my face, because she went on to say, “This will be my new home. I will make it mine. I will meet people, join activities, make it a wonderful place to be.” AND. SHE. DID.

She brought the light within her to all she met at the assisted living place. People were drawn to her because of her loving nature, her wide smile, her enjoyment of each day. She embraced her light, made it burn brightly, and passed it on to others.

Goodman Family Dentistry

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” – Maya Angelou

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April 19, 2025 · 8:05 pm

Happy Easter 2025

Please forgive the quality of this photo. Pictures are a real issue on my new computer because I can’t go to a site yet and ‘save’ the way I have always done. It’s also quite a challenge to get the pictures I have finally managed to save to ‘open.’ Some images I save go off into the ozone somewhere, probably never to be found again😳.

Brian will help me with this, once things have tamed down, but my pictures are not the priority until Harvey is recovered enough to come home.

I do wish you a very Happy Easter, whether you are dying Easter eggs and then hiding them for your kids and the neighborhood children, going to church for a beautiful celebration, or just celebrating the day quietly at home.

Brian and I had breakfast earlier. We will do an errand and then head for the hospital, hoping to see an alert Harvey who will be glad to see us, able to swallow better today and not need to be reminded to swallow so often, able to feed himself a bit (remembering not to hurry so much), and able to sit up, with a straighter back and with his head up, enjoying the gorgeous view out his window for as long as they ask today. Hopefully he will be able to engage more of his muscles to aid in his standing with the help of the physical therapists, plus move arms and legs on command. I also hope his confusion is less and that he’s able to stay awake mostly during the day, rather than sleeping when people come to work with him. A lot to hope for, I know, but I would really like my husband back, feeling good, smiling, and able to enjoy life.

I wish you a happy day, surrounded by those you love, celebrating together in joy.

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April 13, 2025 · 10:07 am

Day 6 in the hospital

Today was Day 6 in the hospital. After a carotid artery ultrasound, he was moved from ICU to a private room. We are now on the 11th floor of the hospital. I think this is the top floor.

We were worried about this move because we thought he still needed the really close monitoring, and we didn’t know what to expect in a private room. We hired an extra nurse for tonight to make sure he got the care he needed.

After spending the day in his room, we are calm now that he is receiving excellent care. There are nurses, physical therapists, doctors, and all sorts of people coming in all the time to do some special thing.

He had a really good session of physical therapy today, with him sitting on the side of the bed by himself for a minute or two (bookended by the therapist and her strong male aid), standing twice and lasting for several seconds both times, getting arms and legs exercised, encouraging him to do the moves, but aiding him if he wasn’t able to fully yet, and more. He showed a lot of progress and really put honest effort into it.

He said several words today – one word answers to questions, but answers don’t have to be lengthy, do they? He tried to say other things but we couldn’t understand. He kept putting his hands up near his nose, concerning us, because he still has the nasal feeding tube in. We explained to him that he needed to leave it alone, but then watched him like a hawk because his hand would come up over and over. We explained what the tube was for, and that it would be removed once he showed he could swallow reliably. I also mentioned at one point that if he managed to get it out, they would have to put it back in. Hopefully, that and the extra nurse watching him tonight will do the trick.

The carotid artery ultrasound showed plaque in both arteries, but not enough to cause a stroke or need surgery. They think the stroke was caused by atrial fibrillation plus really slow heartbeats per minute to the point of stopping for some seconds (this sounds similar to MY problem in February! He is now scheduled for a brain CT tomorrow we think, to make sure there is no bleeding. Next they will install a pacemaker (the second in our family in two months!) They think that the pacemaker and a blood thinner that they will start soon will give him the best chance going forward.

We went to the hospital today with all electronics in plastic bags. Brian even got us fancy bags for our cellphones especially made for protection during the water festival. It hangs around your neck, completely sealed. We made it to the hospital without incident. It started raining while we were there, making it really difficult to navigate on the way home through the throng of party-goers undeterred by the rain, all heading to Maya for drenching, dancing, listening to music, drinking until all hours, etc. I have honestly never seen anything like this.

Three lanes of vehicles on either side of the big highway and several lanes of motorcycles and motor scooters, each holding from one to four people – and animals! all darting in and out of the lanes, between the cars, nose to tail all traveling at a high rate of speed. Truly amazing to watch. And then a gazillion people walking on both sides and filling up all available space. The rain was causing the streets to flood, and water was half way up my shoes when we got back to our condo. Thankfully, though the entrance to the condos was full of revelers, no one shot us.

This was Day One of the Songkran new year’s water festival. We have two days not only LIKE, but exceeding what I saw today. Hard to imagine. It’s a challenge to travel, and if we didn’t need to, we wouldn’t. We ordered a Mexican dinner to be delivered this evening, but were notified the order was cancelled due to the Grab motorcyle rider refusing to deliver in the pouring rain. I don’t blame him. Luckily, we had some chicken and some canteloupe left over from yesterday.

Here’s to Day Two of the Water Festival. I really hope we don’t get doused because Harvey’s room is like a meat locker.

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April 9, 2025 · 8:52 pm

Day 3

Thank you to all of you who are bearing with me, only writing about my husband’s health lately. Please just skip over these and I hope I’ll be back soon with my more normal posts.

This is day 3 of my husband’s surgery for a stroke and fall. He is doing better. The surgery cleared the two arteries in his brain that were completely occluded and damage from the blockage was minimal, the doctors say. They are now focusing on his low heartbeats per minute and low blood pressure. This improved yesterday, and I’m hoping it will today, as well, so they will be able to take out the breathing tube

I long to hear his voice, hoping he can speak. I hope he is alert enough that we can explain his situation more clearly, see if he is able to walk without problem in the near future, and what the doctors recommend.

Our son and I are spending almost the entire visiting hours at his side, except when they are doing something where they ask us to leave for half an hour or so. There is a waiting area right down the hall. Otherwise we are watching the monitors, watching him, seeing the good care he is receiving, and are available if a doctor comes and wants to talk with us.

No one can no the future – even the good doctors.
We are all essentially waiting and doing all we can for him. We are there every time he opens his eyes, taking his hand, kissing his forehead, letting him know he isn’t alone. It’s sad that they are having to restrain his hands and feet, but it is essential now that he not disrupt the equipment. He tends to flail a lot when not restrained, putting himself and the equipment in danger.

Brian and I enjoyed a nice delivered breakfast of eggs and cheese, bacon, and a salad. We then took a walk to the laundry farther out, out by our koi pond, since the one in the building was closed. He showed me that he weighed the bag of laundry on a scale. There was a chart on the wall re the cost of the weight. He put the ticket with his name, phone number and email address and the payment in a bag and then put the bag inside the tied up laundry bag. Then there was a chute where you dropped your laundry. He says they will call or email him when the clothes are ready to be picked up. Interesting system!

We visited the koi for a bit and then continued our walk around the block. We will leave again in a minute to get a Grab to take us to the hospital for the day.

I hope to bring good news, and more regular blog posts in the coming days. Thanks again for bearing with me during this scary time.

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November 28, 2024 · 9:11 am

Thanksgiving 2024

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I hope you’re up to your eyeballs in love today – knee-deep in family and friends sharing a beautiful time and delicious food.

Reader’s Digest – THE Healthy

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know that our son lives across the world from us. He chose his location very carefully and is very happy. He left us a message on the chat program this morning –

He said, “Happy Thanksgiving, guys. I’m very thankful for all the love and energy and patience and support you have given me and still give me.” It just doesn’t get nicer than that. :0)

We’re having a quiet celebration here, just my husband and me. I’ll cook a turkey breast. Otherwise we’ve pared things down to our favorites – the ones we look forward to all year – cranberry jelly and deviled eggs. We’ll have salad, too.

It’s the coolest day we’ve had in quite a while. The low was 29 and the high will only be 49. With the wind, it will seem quite chilly. BRRRRR!

I’m thankful for so many things –

  • because I’m losing some of my lard and keeping what’s left moving – my health is improving. I’m getting stronger, more flexible, and able to do what I need to do more easily.
  • My husband is still with me to share our lives. He just turned 81 and is definitely old and ornery. Stubborn and always right. Self-centered and set in his ways. He says that I am “mean as a snake.” We’ve loved each other for 63 years now. We’ve been married for 55. We have a good start now.
  • So far we can cover expenses, and that’s a big relief. I hope this continues.
  • Thankful to be close to our son in all but geography. We talk almost daily. I’m so proud of the man he is and how he’s living his life. My husband keeps telling him he wants ‘Rug Rats,’ but I think it would be good if he got married first, finding a good source for the love inside.
  • Thankful for two quirky pets – Amber, a 95-pound yellow lab, and Monster Cat (aka Jet), a black cat with a personality that grows daily. Both keep us on our toes while filling us with laughter and joy.
  • Thankful to be able to write this blog. Finding and sharing things I think are wonderful with you is a big part of my life. Feedback from people who take the time to read it makes my day. Thankful to be able to talk to YOU.
  • Thankful to be able to create stuff in my art room and post it in my Etsy shop. Even more thankful when someone likes something I’ve done and buys it. There is no greater compliment.

So, a very Happy Thanksgiving.

“What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?” —Erma Bombeck 

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