by Judy Handley | Oct 12, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 285: Another Day Comes and Goes
Date: Monday, October 12, 2020
Weather: Overcast with a Few Sprinkles; High 57, Low 52 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
It amazes me how the days come and go and I have very little to show for it. But despite that, I had a good day. I took advantage of Heather and Jed being away and made use of their washer and dryer today to do a couple of laundry loads of those things you only wash a couple of times year—a winter jacket, a comforter, etc. Running back and forth did take a great deal of the time. I also cleaned the guinea pig cages and washed the liners. And I spent time walking with Shadow and playing catch. That was about it except for the time spent in communication, phone calls and texting, with family members. And there were emails to friends. My niece Lynn is still holding on. My sister Patsy was planning to make the trip from Nashville to Charlotte on Wednesday to visit with my niece (her daughter) Jennifer, but Patsy had to go to Urgent Care today and found she has a urinary tract infection. She has put that trip on hold for now. So goes a day in the life.
by Judy Handley | Oct 11, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 284: Congratulations to Sarah and Christian
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2020
Weather: Cooling Down; High 65, Low 48 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Good news for a change. My dear friend Detta called this afternoon to ask if I have been getting her texts. Well, no. I got a text from here on Thursday asking about my nieces, but that was it for a text from Detta on my new phone. When I had to get the new phone, I lost my contacts and all prior texts. Evidently Detta sent me a couple of very important texts during the days when I still had the old phone but couldn’t use it because I couldn’t see the screen. Anyway, during tht time she had texted to tell me that her daughter Sarah got married. Sarah and Christian quietly slipped away to a beautiful mountain top in Ashville, North Carolina, to exchange vows. And I missed the whole thing! Sarah moved to Ashville a couple of years ago after graduating from college. She met Christian there and they have been together since.
But in September, they decided it was time to tie the knot and move back to New Hampshire. Congratulations to the bride and groom. And congratulations to the parents of the bride, Detta and Tom. They are so delighted that Sarah and Christian are moving to New Hampshire and will live close by. I couldn’t be happier for all of them.
I started my day down by the dock with Shadow. My new neighbor, Andrew, had offered to show me some of his dog training techniques. After a few minutes, he agreed that Shadow certainly wants to run the show, but I did get some helpful ideas. I spent the rest of the day going to Heather and Jed’s to feed the guinea pigs and do some laundry and coming home to cook while waiting to hear from about my nieces. Hospice called my niece Lynn’s immediate family this morning to tell them to come as it looked like she would pass at any moment. But tonight she is still holding on and the wait continues. I talked to my niece in Charlotte who had surgery this week and found out that she was being released today. She had emergency surgery on Tuesday to have a large tumor that was laying on her spine removed. The surgery to remove her left kidney that was scheduled for this week has been delayed and we are just waiting for the results of the biopsy to find out what her next steps will be. Lots of tense waiting time. That’s why I decided to spend my afternoon cooking. I made eggplant parmesan and a lasagna using thin sliced zucchini instead of pasta. I hope to take the eggplant parmesan to my sister-in-law and I’ll try the zucchini lasagna and share it with the Goldstones upon their return from Maine tomorrow evening if it is a success.
by Judy Handley | Oct 10, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 283: Memories from 56 Years Ago
Date: Saturday, October 10, 2020
Weather: Warm and Windy; High 69, Low 54 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I was talking to my sister tonight and I asked her when she last talked to her best friend from high school, a friendship that continued throughout their adult lives. But evidently when my sister moved to Tennessee in 2015 and my brother-in-law got so sick, she lost contact. The cell phone number she has just isn’t working. I didn’t know this until I asked the question tonight, so when we got off the phone, I sent a Facebook message to the Mayor of Nitro, West Virginia, asking him if he could help me find out the current whereabouts of Bob and Helen Strickland. For some reason, he is a friend of mine on Facebook. Amazingly, two seconds later he got back to me saying that he will check into it for me but that he believes they still live at the address I sent to him. It is at times like this that I absolutely love Facebook.
My sister Patsy was 16 and Helen was 15 in the spring of 1950. They were best friends attending Nitro High School when Helen and Bob got married. My sister was their witness and their friendship continued for 65 more years until they lost contact. I really hope the mayor can help me get them back together.
This all came up because yesterday my sister-in-law asked if Helen was still living. I had not heard otherwise, so I said that I thought so. But that caused me to inquire. My sister-in-law also pointed out that it will 56 years on Monday that my brother Bennie, her husband, died suddenly of pancreatitis when he was just 33 years old. That Monday was October 12, 1964, exactly one year from this coming Monday. Thinking about that brought back vivid memories of that time. Bennie and Sue and their three children lived close to my parents in Nitro. I was a senior at Nitro High School and it was the weekend for decorating floats for Homecoming on the following weekend. I was a cheerleader and all members of the squad were spending the weekend together. We worked all of Friday evening on the floats and then went to a fellow cheerleaders house to spend the night. I could see my house up on the hill from the front yard of where we were staying. We stayed up half the night and I kept wondering why the porchlight was on at my house all night. But the next day there was an afternoon football game followed by more decorating and another night at the friend’s house. When I went home on Sunday morning, I found out that my brother had been hospitalized on Thursday, had almost died on Friday night, but was recovering. I was told that no one had told me so I wouldn’t worry, but I was not happy and really wanted to see my brother. I went to the hospital and had a nice visit with him. He made fun of me for having my hair in a ponytail on the top of head and we laughed together. He had an infectious laugh that always made me so happy and I left the hospital thinking he was just fine. But when I got home from school on Monday, no one was there. Everyone was at the hospital because my brother had died. What a tough life lesson. Life is not guaranteed. It can go away in an instant. Now 56 years later, we are waiting to hear about the passing of his daughter Lynn, only 66 years old. It doesn’t sound like she will make it to Monday, but it will be very ironic if she does and then dies on the same day—October 10th and a Monday—56 years apart.
On a happier note, I met a new neighbor today. I live next door to Shirley, the women who owns the cottage I rent, and the house next door to her sold recently. When I was walking Shadow down the street yesterday morning before heading north to Boston, I saw a young man, about the age of Heather and Jed, park his fancy sports car with a New York license plate next to the house that just sold. For two weeks, workers have been installing a new septic system in the front yard and I saw him walk up to one of the workmen and start talking. So I figured he might be the new owner. I didn’t see his car when I walked Shadow this morning, so I assumed he had left. But then this afternoon when I was playing ball with Shadow down by the dock, the young man walked out to his dock. We introduced ourselves and had a great conversation. He and his wife are originally from England but have most recently been living just north of New York City with their three children, almost the same ages as Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, but two girls who are 8 and 14 with an 11 year-old boy in the middle. He closed on the house yesterday and will meet with the construction crew on Monday morning that will renovate the entirety of the inside of the house over the next few months. When that is done, the family will move in full-time. So many of my neighbors are summer residents only, so it was great to learn that I will have another year-round neighbor.
by Judy Handley | Oct 9, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 282: Hospice Visit
Date: Friday, October 9, 2020
Weather: Still Cool, But Sunny; High 57, Low 53 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
Today I made the trip to Reading, northeast of Boston, to meet my sister-in-law Sue and niece Candi at the Sawtelle Family Hospice House and then take them to lunch. Due to Covid, I had been told that I would not be able to go see my niece Lynn, but when I got there, Candi came down to meet me and they let us exchange places. I was so grateful to have a little time to say final farewells. I don’t know how much Lynn comprehended, but I hope she felt the love I was conveying from all of my family members who live so far away. I then took Sue and Candi to lunch. It was bright and sunny, so we were so we were able to take advantage of the outside seating. It was 3:15 by the time we finished lunch and I started the long trek home. Being a Friday on a holiday weekend, there was definitely more traffic than during a normal Friday rush hour. I didn’t get home until 7:15, but that did include a stop at Costco to buy a dog bed for Shadow. Shadow was VERY happy to see me and I was actually able to play ball with him outside by turning on my porch light and using my car headlights. It definitely made for a happy puppy. But my day was not over. Shadow and I then had to drive to Heather and Jed’s to feed the guinea pigs. The Goldstones left early this morning for a weekend in Maine. I got a text late afternoon that said they arrived by 1 pm and that the house on a lake they are renting is rustic and gorgeous. As I traveled today, I heard that it is supposed to be 80 and sunny in Boston tomorrow. Hopefully that weather will continue on up the coast to Maine allowing them to truly enjoy the weekend. We are supposed to have warm but very windy weather here tomorrow. I’ll try to ignore the wind and just enjoy the warmth.
by Judy Handley | Oct 8, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 281: Guns versus Political Signs
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2020
Weather: Cooler Again; High 63, Low 40 Degrees F (Brrrr)
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I hope I heard this wrong, but I think I heard a state senator in Michigan say today that you are allowed to carry guns outside and inside the state capitol, but protest signs fastened to sticks are banned as they might chip the building’s facade. When I Googled this I found a quote from the Michigan State Police saying protesters are “within their rights to carry their weapons inside the building “as long as the person is carrying the firearm with lawful intent and the firearm is not concealed.” Evidently there is no law explicitly allowing this. It is just that there is no law saying it can’t be done. And then there are the men that were arrested in Michigan today for plotting to kidnap the governor and much more. What kind of country have we become?
My world is a waiting game right now. My niece who had a tumor removed from her spine yesterday is doing well. So far, so good. And the condition of my niece that is hospice care, Lynn, has not changed much since yesterday. I am driving to the Boston area tomorrow to hopefully have lunch with Lynn’s mother and sister. I am not allowed in the hospice house due to Covid, but it will make me feel better to be close by.
This afternoon was sunny and beautiful and I took Sam to his rowing session. It was a bit windy and the temp was not particularly warm, so I sat in my car in the sunshine overlooking the lake and reading my book. Sam was the first out and they rowed all the way around the lake today. He really enjoyed the rowing and I really enjoyed watching. So peaceful.
by Judy Handley | Oct 7, 2020 | 2020 Life Logs |
2020 Life Logs, Day 280: Trip to Scituate to Visit the Aunties
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Weather: Warm and Windy; High 70, Low 49 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, Falmouth, MA
I spent most of my day traveling north to Scituate with Karen Baranowski to visit my friends and her aunties, the two women who live next door to me half of the year. Karen brought lasagna and I contributed a salad and birthday cake for Doris who turned 102 on Sunday. We had a delightful visit. But during and after the visit, I had phone calls focused on my two nieces. The niece in hospice in Massachusetts is still hanging on and I got to talk to her on speaker phone today. She cannot talk, but she seems to comprehend what is being said. I cannot visit due to Covid, but at least she heard my voice. My other niece who lives in North Carolina had her emergency surgery this afternoon and everything went very well. The tumor on her spine was successfully removed. We won’t know if it is cancerous until the biopsy results are in and we don’t know if the scheduled surgery to remove her left kidney will happen next week as previously scheduled. My guess is that it will be delayed. My thoughts are with both nieces and everyone who knows and loves them.
