Do you ever think of your memory as a gift? I'm not sure I ever have - until, that is, I met an elderly gentleman whose wife had advanced Alzheimer's disease. He became ill, you see, and found himself a patient in the hospital. Having no family in the area, his worry over who would care for and keep his confused wife safe kept his anxiety at a level very difficult to manage while he was hospitalized. "To death to us part, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad......." If you ever want to see what that vow really looks like - talk to a couple who have been married for more than five decades. They know a little something about that. Heck, they know a little something about a whole lot of somethings, and we're just plain old stupid if we don't try to glean a little wisdom ... View Post
Little Things 328 through 365
Each day this year, I've posted a little thing that I'm thankful for. It's transformed my attitude, my perspective, my prayers, and all sorts of other things. I've enjoyed posting my "little things" and often times have had to choose between so many good things in a day. But if I can be honest, I have also struggled on some days to remember to be thankful, especially when things have felt pretty crummy. I've had some friends tell me they have enjoyed reading them and actually look forward to them, and others who say they've stopped following me because they are sick of them. (Thankful for their honesty). And there are days when I've asked myself why I ever committed to posting 365 times this year, but even more days that I've looked forward to choosing what to give thanks ... View Post
Bonbons For Nurses
I can't tell you the number of times I've driven home with a head full of stories I've wanted to blog - meaningful stories, sad stories, ones that make you realize what matters, ones that make you want to run home and hug those you love, or get on the phone and tell someone you love them, and often times ones that just make you laugh out loud! And yes, there are even some that really and truly make you go "Huh?" I literally have hundreds of them - and so does every other nurse I work with. Writing them is one of my most favorite things to do. Some people like to fish. Some like to climb mountains, or hunt, or swim, or run marathons. Not me. I like to write. Recently, however, I've gotten into the bad habit of being too busy. Too busy to do what I love. And in the past couple ... View Post
Yes, This Is the Blog Post I Promised You
Hi. I hope the person this is intended for is reading this. Yes, it's intended for someone. They know who they are. But if, by chance, it's someone else - some random stranger who stumbled across this blog - yes, it's for you, too. I want to tell you about a gift I once bought a friend I loved. It was the most beautiful glass vase I'd ever seen - a pretty rose pink color with swirls of purples and blues. It was a very, very expensive piece from an art store in Birmingham - hand blown glass. There was no other vase like it in the world. My friend was worth every single dollar it cost me, and it cost me a lot! I REALLY wanted her to like it as much as I did. I bought a dozen long stem pink roses for her birthday, cut the stems, placed them perfectly in the vase, and put ... View Post
Last Minute & Unexpected
Have you ever made plans time after time with the same friend, that somehow always seem to fall apart? Not necessarily anyone's fault..... It's just that every single time you try to get together to catch up, something comes up, and one or both of you have to cancel? It happens every single time - almost to the point that it feels like there's a conspiracy going on? But then, when spur of the moment you decide to call and see what that same friend is doing right now.... you somehow always manage to get together? Sometimes, the best visits are the unplanned ones, the last minute ones, the ones you're most unprepared for. For some reason, they just somehow seem to be the best ones of all. Does this ever happen to you? This morning I had a list of things to do - ... View Post
Body Bags & Billionaires
When you tear open the plastic that body bags come in, they smell like a fresh liner of an old-fashioned above-the-ground swimming pool. Every time I open one, I take a big whiff and say that out loud to whoever I'm working with. I can't help it! It reminds me of my childhood days swimming in the Russell family pool. I spent a lot of time in that pool and I remember what a pool lining smells like. Every time I put a deceased person's body in a body bag, I remember a patient who told me how filthy rich he was. Those were his words - not mine. "Filthy" rich he called himself. He was a billionaire. That filthy rich patient had his meals delivered on china instead of paper plates. He had Egyptian cotton sheets delivered daily to his room. He was visited every shift by men in ... View Post
Dirt Roads, Dinky The Duck, & Bologna & Pickle Sandwiches
My friend and I recently took a road trip just a little north of where we live to look at some property suggested by https://exprealty.com/us/tx/kerrville/houses/, and I gotta tell ya..... There's just something really cool about driving down dirt roads. When the dust kicks up, and folks can hear someone coming from a ways away, people lift up their heads to wave even if they don't know you - it just has a way of taking me back in time. Back in time - to my good old days......... I grew up in Redford Township, and one of mine and my siblings' favorite things to do was was "go out to the farm." When we'd get up on a Saturday morning and find out we would be making the long trip out to St. Clair, we'd get so excited! Aunt Iris and Uncle Ed lived on what to me seemed like a ... View Post
Taking A Look Around Me
There's a really sweet walking path at a beautiful park near my home. It borders Lake St. Clair, and just across the water is Canada. Every time that I've gone there, I've taken photos and sent them to people to share the magnificent views of the sunrise, a fishing boat quietly passing by, or a storm cloud approaching. But when I began seeing out-of-area text message charges on my phone bill, I realized that with Canada being so close, I was being charged as though I was in a different country. So I stopped taking photos, and instead, began to bring my headphones and listen to music. But one morning I was taken by surprise when three police officers and a pretty big dog appeared suddenly from behind me, and decided that I needed to be more aware of what was happening around me. ... View Post