One of my best friends from Illinois duaghter will be having a baby soon. I can't believe she is going to be a mother. She and her husband will make excellent parents, but I guess I just get to feeling old and sentimental when I think about it. I remember when my friend first found out she was pregnant with her daughter -- its a long and funny story but it was over thirty years ago and it seems like just yesterday. Anyway -- my best and all my love to Rachel, Mark and the new baby soon to be here.
And, two of my favorite friends -- I like to think of them as my surrogate sons, announced recently that they and their wives are soon expecting a baby. Their due dates are just weeks apart and it will be truly amazing seeing these guys go from husbands to dads -- but they will be great. I'm so happy for them.
On another note, I spoke to another pyschology class on campus at UGA this week about Alzheimer's. The professor gave me some questions that her students had the last time I spoke to give me an idea of some of the their thoughts. They were certainly interesting and I will try to keep them in mind the next time I speak to a group. Thanks Tamar for having me and best of luck to you in your studies!
Next week, I'm going to get a new knee! Yes, it's time for it. I'll be in the hospital for a few days and then recuperating for a few months. I'm not looking forward to the rehab time, but I'm glad to get it over with. I'll try to be better about blogging in the next week or so, as I'll be MIA for awhile after that. The one thing that had concerned me was going under anesthesia, as that from what I understand, can be an issue for those diagnosed with Alzheimer's. However, it appears they will be doing an epidural for the procedure so hopefully that will be much better.
Oh -- and after I get back on line, I'm going to try to be better about posting on a regular basis even if the words don't come out like they should! I have many friends that have blogs that keep on task by coming up with weekly "issues" of their blogs by calling them, "Truthful Tuesday" or "Wacky Wednesday thoughts" -- you get it. I'll just have to try to come up with something clever -- and I'm all for suggestions.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Finally
After several years of emailing, and corresponding, I finally got to meet Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice and Left Neglected. If you have been reading this blog for long, you know how I have raved about her books. Still Alice deals with Alzheimer's disease and that is how I first became aware of Lisa. Her second book which just came out deals with a neurological condition called Left Neglect. It is a very interesting disorder and almost hard to believe. But, her book certainly describes it well. Lisa was at a Book Festival in Savannah Georgia and I took the opportunity to go hear her speak. She was gracious enough to give me some of her free time while she was there and I so appreciate it. I'm glad we finally got to meet in person after being "cyber friends" for so long. Hope all went well with the rest of the festival Lisa and thanks again for sharing your time with me!Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Mazda Miata
Everyone that knows me, knows that a red Mazda Miata is my dream car. My daughter in law sent me this photo of my son in a red Mazda Miata at the DC car show. This is so wrong -- it should be me in that driver's seat!
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Blogs and Friends
I've been looking at some blogs lately of people I know and I feel so inadequate after reading theirs. They all sound intelligent, well thought out and put together. Mine, on the other hand, are disconnected and jump around from thought to thought. I find that I want my friends to write more so I can read more. I'm not amazed by what they right, I guess I'm amazed at how effortless it probably is for them (and maybe it's not, but they've fooled me). It seems they put lots and lots of thought into what they are going to write so it really has a story -- with a beginning, middle and end. I used to fuss at my son when he was writing for school projects about having the beginning, middle and end. Now I can't seem to find those things myself. So, I appreciate all those that still read this blog, because a lot of times I do just ramble......without structure.....random thoughts that pop into my head -- have to write them quickly or they pop out just as fast. Having said all of this, I want to share an experience I had yesterday and you may have to weave it all together, but it means a lot to me.
Yesterday was one of those days where it was cold and rainy. A day where you wanted to stay inside and read a book or take a nap. But, I had plans to go out and meet some old friends for lunch. I met these ladies thirty years ago. That's shortly after we moved to the south. My husband had been transferred and when he transferred many of the same people he worked with up north transferred along with him. So when he went to work here, it was kind of like working where we used to live, because although he was in a different building, he was doing the same thing and working with the same people.
I, on the other hand, was the new wife, moving to a small town, had no job and knew no one. So, we joined a small community country club -- and when you think of country club, I'm sure you are not thinking of this one -- no white table cloths, no exclusive parties, no high initiation fees, no valet parking, no waiting list to join. It was an affordable one for what we wanted to do --which was mainly play tennis. There was a golf course and a swimming pool, but our main focus at the time was to play tennis. We paid our modest amount of money to join and bought basically the "tennis package" which allowed us to make reservations for a court and play about as much tennis as we wanted.
We slowly began to meet other people that played tennis and before I knew it I was on a tennis team. Then, I was on two tennis teams. Then I was playing in some socials....and you get the drift. The ladies that I played with became my newest best friends. It was my "community" at the time. I didn't realize what an important part of my life these people would become. We seemed to live at the tennis courts and traveled together for matches. As we each had children, we started bringing them to the courts where the bigger ones would watch the smaller ones. We came from different backgrounds, different counties and different cultures. But we were all a family on the tennis court -- even though we liked some strong but friendly competition.
Over the years, one by one we stopped playing tennis, or we stopped playing in league play. We all had our reasons, whether it be family, injuries, returning to work or whatever. But, those 25-30 people that became my community back then, still surface from time to time and we picked up where we left off.
That's a long way of saying, that yesterday, I met two of these ladies for lunch. One I had not seen in probably twenty years, the other, I have just recently gotten back in touch with and renewed that friendship. It was great catching up with both of them and I realized how lucky I was (or am) to have these women in my life. It didn't seem like we missed a beat in picking up our conversation -- like we were talking over the tennis net. Although we have lost touch over the years, they (and all my tennis buddies) are people I know that I could pick up the phone and ask for help if I needed it. We all need friends like that. I hope they consider me to be just as an important friend to them. I thank them for being in my life.
I can remember times my son and I would be out shopping and I would run into one of my tennis friends and introduce Alan. Many times he would turn to me and say "Mom, is there anyone you haven't played tennis with?" It always made me smile. I would reply "Of course, there is -- but this lady was a friend of mine, too". They were all friends and "my family" as well.
We all have our own little communities and they change the way we look at things. Sometimes we forget that our friends help shape who we are. I'm glad I have the friends I have....even if I don't see them as often as I should.
Yesterday was one of those days where it was cold and rainy. A day where you wanted to stay inside and read a book or take a nap. But, I had plans to go out and meet some old friends for lunch. I met these ladies thirty years ago. That's shortly after we moved to the south. My husband had been transferred and when he transferred many of the same people he worked with up north transferred along with him. So when he went to work here, it was kind of like working where we used to live, because although he was in a different building, he was doing the same thing and working with the same people.
I, on the other hand, was the new wife, moving to a small town, had no job and knew no one. So, we joined a small community country club -- and when you think of country club, I'm sure you are not thinking of this one -- no white table cloths, no exclusive parties, no high initiation fees, no valet parking, no waiting list to join. It was an affordable one for what we wanted to do --which was mainly play tennis. There was a golf course and a swimming pool, but our main focus at the time was to play tennis. We paid our modest amount of money to join and bought basically the "tennis package" which allowed us to make reservations for a court and play about as much tennis as we wanted.
We slowly began to meet other people that played tennis and before I knew it I was on a tennis team. Then, I was on two tennis teams. Then I was playing in some socials....and you get the drift. The ladies that I played with became my newest best friends. It was my "community" at the time. I didn't realize what an important part of my life these people would become. We seemed to live at the tennis courts and traveled together for matches. As we each had children, we started bringing them to the courts where the bigger ones would watch the smaller ones. We came from different backgrounds, different counties and different cultures. But we were all a family on the tennis court -- even though we liked some strong but friendly competition.
Over the years, one by one we stopped playing tennis, or we stopped playing in league play. We all had our reasons, whether it be family, injuries, returning to work or whatever. But, those 25-30 people that became my community back then, still surface from time to time and we picked up where we left off.
That's a long way of saying, that yesterday, I met two of these ladies for lunch. One I had not seen in probably twenty years, the other, I have just recently gotten back in touch with and renewed that friendship. It was great catching up with both of them and I realized how lucky I was (or am) to have these women in my life. It didn't seem like we missed a beat in picking up our conversation -- like we were talking over the tennis net. Although we have lost touch over the years, they (and all my tennis buddies) are people I know that I could pick up the phone and ask for help if I needed it. We all need friends like that. I hope they consider me to be just as an important friend to them. I thank them for being in my life.
I can remember times my son and I would be out shopping and I would run into one of my tennis friends and introduce Alan. Many times he would turn to me and say "Mom, is there anyone you haven't played tennis with?" It always made me smile. I would reply "Of course, there is -- but this lady was a friend of mine, too". They were all friends and "my family" as well.
We all have our own little communities and they change the way we look at things. Sometimes we forget that our friends help shape who we are. I'm glad I have the friends I have....even if I don't see them as often as I should.
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