Okay, friends and family! I am hearing from you that you are wondering how I am. I mostly disappeared after the insertion of a pain pump for my new diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer. On June 19, I had a Medtronic pain pump inserted into a "pocket" incision made into my right upper abdomen. The …
Continue reading Adventure on Holy Ground #6 / Pancreatic Cancer
I'm happy to repost my friend Marianna's account of our recent Chicago weekend. We had to repeat last year's trip to Printers Row Lit Fest, minus my face plant on Michigan Avenue, so we'd replace the unpleasant memories of that earlier trip. We had a marvelous time! Back to Chicago: A Second Chance My friend Lois …
Continue reading Catching up! A Repeat Chicago Trip and a Move
This post needs few words. Read the graphics. Winning was a delightful surprise. A great excuse to go back to my former hometown. Marv's "thumbprint" marked his decisions: refuse chemo, choose quality of life over quantity, and die at home. February 11, 2018. A few days after diagnosis. Desert Palms Presbyterian Church, Sun City West, …
Have you ever felt as if your brain would burst from accumulated words? As a writer and blogger, I'm having that problem now. The last time I remember being in this situation was the day I started my Caring Lessons memoir. Sitting in a NC gazebo with my friend Marianna and a cat crossing our …
Have books, will travel! Marv wanted our story told of his terminal lung cancer. So that's my focus this week. I wanted to hand it to siblings first and that meant a trip to Michigan (from South Dakota). I checked the airlines, but traveling with a few hundred books did not sound fun to me. …
“You’re coming up to a small town that has an historical marker,” Esther texted to me as Marv and I drove along I-10 in Texas. We were on our way to Arizona in January of 2017; Esther was grounded in Michigan during her chemo and radiation treatments for esophageal cancer. She did not despair that …
An entry for the Blogging A to Z in April challenge In addition to my daughter and her family, two communities saved my life when we moved after fifty years in Chicago, a city of about 3 million, to the much smaller Sioux Falls, a town of under 300,000. Those two are OLLI--Osher Life Learning …
Today, I'm reblogging my friend Marianna Crane's blog. Waking up to her post this morning brought back warm and wonderful memories of our time together in Chicago. One day back in the 80’s, Lois, my good friend, and I stood in line waiting to be seated at Lou Mitchell’s restaurant on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago. …
Continue reading L is for Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant, by Marianna Crane
Today, I'm honoring my late husband's hobby of making things. He made almost every end table, bookcase, and wall hanging I ever had. He did not claim to be a perfectionist; he was proud to call his creations "Marv's Functional Furniture," with an emphasis on "functional," not "perfection." He was especially proud of the wall …
When I missed my connection and stayed overnight at O'Hare a few nights ago, all I could see of Chicago from my hotel room was this haze of clouds. It was almost enough to soothe my lonesome mind. Living in the Chicago area for fifty years does that to you. I imagine you have some …
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