REMEMBER WHEN...........? MEMORIES OF TIMES PAST!

Remember Vick nosedrops and vaporub..when your mother had you eat a teaspoon of that creamy vaporub..yucky!...when you would have to put a pan of water on top of your free standing heater to moisten the air in your house...when you could take a carload of family to the Motor Movies (movie drive-in) for only a dollar.....when an indoor toilet was a luxury...and a bath meant "get out the round tina"....and all the kids used the same water (we were six)...when we would walk to school two miles (true)....when we were skinny because there were no computers and we would be playing outside....when after school there were activities like needlecraft, ping pong, "punching bag" (tether ball)...when we would chew Fleers Bubble Gum and there was always a comic on back of the wrapper...when you could buy a pound of hamburger for a dollar...when ten dollars would buy bags of groceries...when milk came in glass bottles...when the doctor would come to your house for a sick call....when girls wore hair rollers and wrapped it with a bandana....when our skirts were to the ankles....when girls were not allowed to wear pants at school.....when you bought your vacuum cleaner from a door to door salesman....when encyclopedias were in book form and you had to turn pages.....I DO!

.....Or when we got home from school, homework was a priority....when everyone prepared dinner.....when Saturday was cleaning day.....when we learned the domestic part of life, boys and girls.......when bedtime was 9:30....when we could watch Ozzie and Harriet, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Amos and Andy, Dinah Shore Show, Leave it to Beaver, Sid Cesear and Imogene Coca, The Amateur Hour......when we could safely walk to the store at night....I remember all of these thing and more....Some say the changes in the current mode of things is progress......I beg to differ!

Cancer: I Dodged The Bullet

While being a couple months late for my yearly exam, I certainly did not have cause for alarm. After all, I had routinely included a breast exam with my self-care concerns.

This year I was reminded various times to get my mammogram exam. I would think: I will, I will! A generic reminder from Kaiser generated a new reminder which caught my attention. It gave me statistics of age groups. I looked up information of Google. It seems the risk goes up as you get older. Get older? I am now 70 years old. Maybe it's time to take this risk more seriously! I waited a couple more days, then made the appointment. It was a week later. I kept the appointment. How I hate that test! The discomfort! But just a moment in time.

Now, I thought, to wait for the results!The following week, I received a call from a number unknown to me, so ignored it. Then another call, this time from the hospital. Well, I thought, it must be from my primary care doctor. A message was left on a third call, the same day I received a notice in the mail that I was to return for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. Mini panic ran through me! I immediately made the appointment.

From Thursday through Tuesday, my appointment day, I became quite nervous. In and out of apprehension, dread and emotions most of us will feel of the unknown. Finally the day came. My husband accompanied me, being as optimistic as he could. I was beginning to feel silly because of my worry. Surely, nothing to worry about!

A repeat mammogram was given, then wait again for my turn for an ultrasound. Then wait again for the radiologist to come in and give me results. "Good news", she says, "it's a cyst, common, a lots of women have them". Then she said, "See you next year"! A sigh of relief for me!

On the way out, I ran into my daughter who is 32 years old. She was scheduling a mammogram for herself. We had been discussing her care now that she is reaching the age of concern. I told her the good news! Of course, I didn't share the emotional toll I had experienced for a week! But I am so happy that she has started her self-care!

I guess you can say I dodged the bullet! Yearly exams that include mammograms are super necessary.
There are members of our family that have not been so fortunate. I certainly do want to gloat. We have felt the pain of losing family members and friends with the terrible disease of CANCER...

Cancer is a disease that reaches past the patient...it affects us all but soon we will not have to worry about any sickness! In addition to that, we have the hope of welcoming back the victims of this terrible disease and all other diseases that have taken the lives of our loved ones! Revelation 21:3, 4 ; Acts 24:15.

My sense is that caring for our health is necessary to continue caring for our loved ones. We want to be in the best possible health!

Dancing Alex

When there is a disability in the family, we have to learn to live with it or at least make it our new "normal". That is what we had to do with our adult grandson. I have videotaped Alex enjoying himself dancing as well as learning new tasks. This is our life! We have decided to make the most of it! With a routine at home that we all participate in, it becomes just a bit easier. I do have to admit that when Alex was young there were a lot more frustrations. Possibly, because we didn't know where this Angelman syndrome would lead us.  Add to that, the frustrations and hard work of raising any child.

As it is now, he has become a bit easier, in that he cooperates and has become very teachable. That is our life with Alex. Each parent, I believe, can reach their own "normal" with theie special needs member of the family. We have found ours and I am trying to document his life as much as I can. He matters! He counts! He is 25 years old!