The Glass is Half-Full

I am elated to be sitting here, post-physical, done for another year!!  I love my doc - she's a friend that I enjoy talking with about nearly everything, but is there anything worse than a physical for women??? It starts with the dreaded scale (that's surely calibrated to add 10 pounds so that you focus on the stress of the number instead of whats to come) and then to the peeing in a cup (and you're to read the directions and do it correctly!).  Once you're dixie cup is put in the compartment you're led to an examination room and told to remove your clothing and dun a paper 'gown' opened in the front. I know these are surely shrinking because they just don't cover the way they used to and this can't have anything to do with the number on the scale!! Once on the examination table, you realize that your backside is uncovered and that once the door is opened it is certainly going to be the first thing the doc and all others in the hall will see. Bu...

It was more than a little ironic that I was reading Gloria Steinem's new book "My Life On the Road" while on our recent trip to California. It was a great book (highly recommend this book!) and was partially responsible for my renewed inspiration to get back to writing on a more regular basis! She wrote from a position of absolute humility and love of humanity that I wish to emulate in my writing. Anyway, the irony was that I'm reading about this independent woman's journeys and encounters while traveling as an independent woman that's become far more dependent on others and experiencing all kinds of encounters! Mostly good, of course - because I am, after all, still relatively Pollyanna-ish! First, when in a wheelchair and flying a whole world of people and service awaits. My first encounter was in the Grand Rapids airport where we were greeted at the Delta counter and told an escort was on the way. I didn't think it was necessary, but kept my mou...

In my recent post entitled "Rockin' and Rollin' but mostly Rollin'", I referenced my previous attempts to be a runner. I did not go into detail, though I'm fairly certain a few of you went to YouTube to see if there were any comedy skits with a theme of 'knock-kneed runners', or 'funniest running styles' or 'people that should not be running'. I've not Googled it, mostly because I forget what I was supposed to be googling when I sit down at the computer. What got a few snickers from friends or quizzical looks from that post, was my reference to running making me pregnant. It's a quick story and has a happy ending (Delaney). About 20 years ago, (exactly 20 in fact since the aforementioned Delaney turned 19 in November) I decided to secretly train for the Old Kent Riverbank Run.( It's now called the Fifth Third.) I wasn't planning to run the whole, long gazillion mile race but was thinking the 5K or hopefully even shor...

Emerson Marie and me. Taken last week at Chrissy Field in the Golden Gate Park I've written in the past about my travails with this damned MS - mostly about falling in very public places and trying to overcome the embarrassment of landing in full view of many and at awkward moments. I've written about trying to overcome my concern of 'what others think' and probably vowed a gazillion times to move on valiantly with my life with MS. I wrote about being 'too sexy for my cane' and then having to reluctantly move on using a walker for my primary mode of transportation. Well, today, I am without my cane and my walkers sit in storage! Not because I'm too sexy or I've gotten stronger and can now do marathons (even it I could, I wouldn't! I've never understood running unless it was running to a party or away from my past. I mean you're running, often in public, and getting all sweaty and parts are jiggling for all to see and I have knock knees s...

I sat down to write today about being cast/boot free. It is a joy to be back to my 'normal' state of mobility - which is to say that I stumble and totter like a drunken sailor but at least now I'm not wearing a big black boot. Ahoy matey! But instead, I came across the above quote and being easily distracted, I began to think about it instead. (Heck, I'm tired of the damn cast and don't want to waste anymore time thinking or writing about it anyway.) It's a quote my Aunt Bonnie first introduced me too when I graduated from high school and it's come on my radar many times since then, but today for some reason it has given me pause. I laugh often, to be sure. I'm like the uncle in Mary Poppins - I love to laugh. I surround myself with people that make me smile and laugh and am grateful for a husband that still knows how to make me laugh. I'm not to sure about winning the respect of intelligent people, though. I tend to think out of the box and...

We did it! John was surprised at last, finally and for good! Mission accomplished... But, wait, it's not really all about me and my planning and for-once-in-my-27-year-marriage surprising my husband. (Though in all honesty, I am pretty darn proud of myself, because it is no easy feat pulling anything over on this man! And believe you me, I have tried!) It is about the reaching the five-year cancer-free milestone. And about, celebrating life and love and family and friends. And that is what we did - despite a deluge of rain our party was not dampened! Thankfully many of the people that helped us make it through that very dismal time were able to be at the party.  It was a time that proved it does indeed take a village to raise a child:  - Patti and Don Beery and Sherry White who whisked off to Panama City with Matthew and Delaney for spring break as we headed to the Evil Empire for treatment. And when they returned, went above and beyond, to check in on Matthe...

A summer gathering on Drummond Island. Post-cocktail hour. After the most recent episode of grace in action, I scoured my memory for the details of my previous broken foot. For the life of me, I couldn't remember if I'd broken the right or the left or the year it happened. Having also sprained an ankle, two things are fairly obvious right now (more obvious than the black cast adorning my right foot). One, I need to write more so that I have written proof on which to rely since my memory is clearly not what it should be. (More on that later!) And second, I am a first-class, gold-medal earning (if there were such a thing), klutz. Klutzy Kathleen. Even before MS was part of my daily life, I couldn't walk and chew gum without a potential disaster. After unearthing the picture above, I discovered it was my left foot. An adorable nearly two-year-old Delaney is partially camouflaging the evidence of the black cast/boot. And it was July or August because we would spend a w...