Speaking of hopeful, I am digging deep this week and relying on hope after a visit to Mayo. I had 4 appointments ending with a Zometa infusion for my bones. By Monday night I was having chills and feeling just plain awful. Tuesday was a sofa day. By Wednesday morning I felt so good and was thinking, "Well that was not so bad!" Thursday I hit a wall and it has been challenging ever since. Everything I read says most of the time it only lasts a few days, these flu-like symptoms. The leg cramps are gone, no more chills, but just not myself. It feels like day 12 of chemo....sigh....not horrific but not fun either. I need these infusions every 6 months for 3 years. There is an end eventually, but hard to go backwards after feeling so darn good. Moving forward, mostly, slowly but with determination.
My grandmother at the well outside her cabin
in Spearfish Canyon, Black Hills, S.D.
Speaking of determination, I was looking at a picture of my grandmother on Friday morning and thought about what a strong woman she was. She lived in Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills. Alone. In a cabin, in the wild I'm thinking at least 80 years ago. My mom told a story about when she and my oldest sister Jo, a baby, stayed with Grandma M. in the cabin. At night wolves came and scratched on the door. My mom was terrified, but it was not a big deal to my grandma. She was no spring chicken at the time she lived there either. My dad's family roots run deep in South Dakota. Three years ago Joel and I went through Spearfish Canyon and it is so beautiful there. My grandma's cabin was destroyed when a new road went it, but we stopped in the general area, also where my cousin's ashes were distributed. We drove through Deadwood where I went to Kindergarten and where my uncle was sheriff at that time. In my dad's side of the family that area is held close to their hearts.
Where I was going with this is the fact that looking back I can see that there were a lot of strong women in my family. Women with tenacity. I was told once by a man praying for me that God said..."You are so faithful and you have so much tenacity." I confess, sometimes I get weary of having tenacity and would just like the easy life, but Friday morning, feeling crappy or not, I put on my big girl boots and had Joel take me to Hobby Lobby where I made it back to the puzzle aisle, picked out three from their sparse selection, and then headed to the car and home. Puzzles are hard to come by and very expensive online right now so going to the store was necessary....for my peace of mind! Puzzles are a great stress release for me.......a must have as we watch our world implode on itself. I keep remembering Isaiah 61............Oh, Lord, let there be beauty from the ashes!
Joel celebrated his 74th birthday this week, by biking 15 miles and enjoying some strawberry-rhubarb pie. I usually make him a pie from scratch but no rhubarb to be found at the store so he bought one. He is still working in his shop and now has a new planer to make things a bit easier. I have walked only one day due to the side effects from the Zometa. Still reading The Nightingale and watching too much TV during my horizontal recoup time. The latest show to draw our attention is the Nat. Geo. show "Alone". A show about surviving alone in the arctic. We find it so interesting....
Speaking of interesting, I love the good that has come forth from the Covid -19 pandemic. Thousands of people rising up and stepping up to be a positive influence. Helping others, making the best of a bad situation. Using their voices to speak goodness and life into others. Zoom must be seeing an enormous increase of "meetings" as people gather to visit. This past Tuesday night our oldest and her family chatted with us from two locations. It literally warms our hearts to see their faces and visit about their lives. A phone call from our youngest on Monday and one from another daughter for Joel's birthday brought smiles to our faces, a long 2 hour phone call to catch up with our middle son and calls from our oldest son made us happy! In fact we have connected with 5 kids this week and it has felt so good...........Now I am getting into our gratitude list so let me close.
So grateful this week for another trip to Mayo, for connecting with family, for lilies blooming, birds singing, and open windows to bring in the morning breezes. Grateful for puzzles, TV, prayer, and prayer warriors. Grateful for a grandmother and other women in my life who had tenacity and passed it on to me. Grateful for texting, phone calls, Zoom, and most importantly so grateful for my now 74 year old hubby sharing my days. God is so good!
Enjoy your weekend.
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