John’s thoughts, rants, and crazy ideas
For the past five weeks, many of you have sent cards and letters to Suzanne here in Chicago. Those cards brighten her day every time we open the door and find them strung across the floor. She can’t get her coat off quickly enough as she sits in ‘her chair’ and opens each one. Smiling, laughing, or crying, each card touches her heart as she feels the love and care you all have for her. Since we don’t want to…
Multiple times Suzanne has shared with me that her one on one with God has been during that period of time from when her radiation technicians strap her head down to the table and leave the room, till the time they come back. It is that time for her that she doesn’t focus on what is happening at that moment in this world, but for her as the song says, “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim”. We…
Home on the farm for the weekend, today is just what we need, an uneventful day. Out to the barn to check on the 6-week old kittens. Only two in this litter, both are very large for their age as mom has had plenty to feed them. Usually, by this point, they come running to us because of our daily feeding them warm milk, but these two don’t know us. Colder weather has dictated we start the process of moving…
In searching my genealogy, I have discovered that somewhere in my family’s past I am somehow related to a shark. Like the shark, I have to keep moving whenever I can. On the farm, it’s not hard to satisfy my need for movement. Spending time indoors especially small spaces is not on my list of things I do well. If I’m on vacation, I want to be ‘out and about’ as much as I can. Checkin, drop the bags, and…
Suzanne keeps pointing out to me that when we listen to Doctors, I hear all the negative stuff and she hears all the positive stuff. She is concerned that my judgment is clouded. We make Judgements every day; The amount space to leave between cars when driving; How much time to set the microwave when reheating a burrito; Where to set the shower water handle for the correct temperature. All of these decisions/judgments are based on previous experience, conversations with…
There is nothing like a personal event or a tragedy in a family member’s life to get you to stop and reconsider your priorities. It’s at that moment that you see what you need to do and the actions you need to take. One such moment for me was when I took my dad on an Honor Flight to Washington DC with other WWII veterans. At the age of 93, it was very apparent that ‘Pop’ wasn’t going to be…
I’m sure if you have been reading this all along you can find things here and there that are repetitive. My thoughts on how treatments are going; my attitude toward our little apartment (no matter how appreciative I am to have it); the sights & smells of the big city; how supprised the doctors are with Suzanne’s progress. What I didn’t realize is how repetitive I have been with some of the Bible Verses at the close of my daily…
Through the years that my wife owned a Quilt & Fabric Store, she would speak at events about her art of quilting. Displaying purses, clothing, wall hangings, and large quilts that she had hand made, she would describe all the techniques that she used in making each item. As she began her presentations, in her opening remarks, she would always quote scripture. Not something that was thought-provoking; not a verse that explained her religious beliefs; not even a verse that…
Every time we check in at the Radiation Treatment Center, a Doctors’ office, or the Cancer Center we are asked the same screening questions, some are just to confirm your identification and some are COVID related. In most cases, the person asking the questions is the person who saw us less than 24 hours earlier. Although I understand the line of questioning, sometimes even the staff realizes how silly some of the questions seem when they ask them. At Rush,…
The days sometimes seem to run together now. It’s Friday and after her radiation treatment, we were on the road home before 8am. Going home for the weekend is about as big a deal as it gets. The hours spent in our Chicago apartment are beginning to take a toll on both of us; Suzanne at least has her sewing machine up there and me, well, just this laptop. Writing these posts daily actually has been a big stress reliever…