May 22, 2020 – To say that my birthday (May 20th) helped restore my faith in humanity would be a bit hyperbolic. I would say, however, that the outpouring of well wishes and Happy Birthdays from friends, colleagues, and family meant so much to me. Obviously, I enjoyed the attention, and it left me with some great memories along with a warm feeling deep inside my restless soul.
I posted my thanks on Facebook, but I wanted to mention my thanks here on my blog.
Once again, thanks to everyone for making my birthday special.
I’ll leave you with some of the lyrics to the Beatles Birthday song, which is one of my favorite Beatles’ songs…
They say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have a good time
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to you
May 31, 2020 – It’s been a little more than ten days since my birthday, obviously. I’ve been a bit unmotivated to write and/or complete any blog posts (hence the lag in posting dates). I finished the last two posts for my Corona Blues series (Parts 3 and 4), and, as you can see above, my birthday thank you post. In that ten days, however, our world has become even more surreal, so its understandable that my motivation has been lacking. All I will say is this – as a society we need to come together and figure some things out. I’ve said something similar before, but it really rings true for these past five or six days. We have some terrible problems that are going to continue tearing this country apart.
That’s all, for now…just a small vent.
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April 25, 2020 – Here’s the third installment in my pictorial journey through self-imposed home quarantine. As I said in my first post (see
Part One), I want to keep this light with some humor thrown in. However, as the pandemic wears on, my mood has become much darker. I sincerely want everyone to smile – heck, I want to smile, too – but I’m having a hard time doing so right now.
‘Like Walking in Wet Sand’
It’s been another month of the same old, same old. I saw this quote somewhere on the internet and thought it was appropriate. One day just seems to roll into another. We’re all just trudging along.
It’s the Little Things in Life
Pretty flowers, a cold beer, a good book…it’s the little things that I look forward to nowadays. Yet, I can’t seem to remain happy, or satisfied. I constantly worry about everything and everyone. There’s a definite “lack of control” that for people like me is unsettling and unacceptable. I’m beginning to understand how isolationists feel…stressed, paranoid, not able or willing to think clearly.
The Great Escape
As I first posted on Facebook on April 14th, after more than two weeks at home, I broke quarantine and toured Memphis from the safety of my car. While far from a ghost town, I was taken aback by the empty feel of the city – especially in downtown and Midtown. At the same time, I was surprised by the number of construction workers, city work crews, etc. hard at work like any normal day. Most, if not all of them, had no face coverings at all.
You Gotta Have Faith
My relationship with the Almighty is a tenuous one to say the least. This situation has neither strengthened or diminished that relationship. I honestly don’t understand people of faith who turn their backs on fellow human beings all in the name of politics or a particular way of thinking. I sincerely hoped that our country would figure out some things, maybe even come together. That lasted for about two or three weeks. Now, it’s everyone for themselves and to hell with others.
Easter was particularly troubling. Frankly, I’m not sure what I believe any more. But to paraphrase the late George Michael…You gotta have faith, faith, faith.
Note: As I mentioned in Part Two, I’ll have a longer discussion about people and religion. That will be in Part Four.
Old School Becomes New School
It’s funny how because of work-at-home and safer at home measures – self-quarantining included – old things have become rediscovered, even in our digital age. Pictures of people playing board games, trivia night via Skype or Zoom…people walking, jogging, and bike riding. I’ve seen and met more neighbors in the past two months than have in the past two years.
Folks hanging out on their porches and listening to music. Even sidewalk art has become a cheap, easy time-filler. Reading, even through digital means, has become a popular pastime, once again.
A Green Thumb and Brown Knees
Gardening, too, became a more popular pastime. It’s late April, so around here that means it’s time to work outside in the garden. I finally got out of the house – with the help of my daughter, Emily – to buy plants and such at a local nursery. It was good to be around plants, once again. Zoe even went along for the ride.
Manna From Heaven
After a full day of yard work and gardening, I was exhausted and starving. Meals, like Vicki’s famous spaghetti sauce (as seen on the right) made it all worthwhile. In fact, cooking and eating have become central characters in this weird pandemic teleplay we find ourselves in.
Meals are a combination of our tried and true favorites, or new recipes found online…as long as we can have the right ingredients. In some cases, our meals are simply improvised with whatever’s on hand. Nothing wrong with that and no complaints from me.
Every time Vicki (or, Emily) goes grocery shopping it’s like Christmas when she returns. Oooh, what did we get? Oh, toilet paper! I love it! Did you get any candy? It’s amazing what being holed-up for almost two months does to your expectations.
Advocacy Work Continues
My latest article for Skincancer.net was posted on April 23rd. (Recurring Vigilance) Since that time, it’s been difficult if not impossible for me to write on a consistent (and focused) basis. That’s one reason this post is more than a month after its date.
Hopefully I’ll soon get back on-track.
For now, thanks and stay safe.
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Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis. No set schedule. So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.
December 31, 2019 – It’s been a year. Man, has it been a year! Like many folks, the end of the calendar year brings reflection and remembrance…and, perhaps, a little remorse. For me, even the month of December brought a flood of new experiences along with memories from the prior year.
I decided, in an indirect way, to have a heart-to-heart talk with myself. Maybe this time I’ll listen.
Writer’s Block
Two more feature articles (see screen shot below) were published online this month (December) at StoryBoard Memphis. While I’ve enjoyed writing these stories along with researching and learning about my subjects, feature writing has taken me away from my true writing love – fiction. So, at some point in 2020, I want to block out enough time to finish my novel.
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| Yes, Elvis is truly everywhere…even in Arizona’s Verde Valley. |
Heart-to-Heart
It’s been one year (December 21, 2018) since I had a heart attack. I wrote about my experience last year at this same time (see All I Want For Christmas…). Life has changed, life has stayed the same, and, as we all know, life moves on. My heart attack was essentially genetic, but I’ve got to continue to take care of myself – like all of us – in order to prevent any more issues.
In an ironic twist, on December 21st (2019), Skincancer.net re-shared one of my blog posts (A Walk in the Park) in their Facebook feed. It’s one of my favorite pieces from 2019 with a very simple message: nothing in life is a walk in the park.
Survivor’s Guilt
One definition of survivor’s guilt states that someone may feel guilty – as though he or she has done something wrong – because they have survived a traumatic or life-threatening event when others have not. Those of us who deal with cancer walk a tightrope of emotions, and survivor’s guilt can rear its ugly head at any moment – especially during the holiday season. I previously talked about my own guilty feelings in the post An Emotional Morning.
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| A great shot from Miles for Melanoma. Our Centrum Silver moment.
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That guilt and pain took center stage right after New Years when I found out that yet another friend had died from cancer. This friend and I shared the same birth date (May 20) and with his passing the close-knit blues music community (national and international) lost a great advocate.
Reflecting on Another Year
I’ve grown tremendously this past year – both as an advocate for skin cancer research and melanoma prevention and as a writer with several published stories to my credit. One of my big successes -under both advocacy and writing – was a piece published (online) nationally by Coolibar Sun Protective Clothing. As it turned out, the original story (from July 31, 2019) was re-shared by Coolibar on Facebook on December 30th.
December 31st
It’s been five (5) years since my mom died, so 2019 ended with an anniversary that no one wanted to celebrate. I’ve written two posts about her decline from dementia and her passing. My dad still misses her very much, of course, but it’s a sad way to ring in the new year…any new year.
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Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis. No set schedule. So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.
Week Three
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
As of today, it’s been three weeks since I started my drug treatment. There’s nothing new to report. As I’ve told several of you, some days I’m doing just fine and other days I’m just plain tired. I have some soreness and a little bit of pain now-and-then, but nothing major. This end-of-the-summer heat has been brutal, and I can tell (as I’ve mentioned in other posts) that the excessive heat and my drugs don’t “mix” well.
So, I stay inside most of the day. I try to write, I update Facebook, I putter around the house with little projects, and I continue job hunting – although my motivation to job hunt waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon.
Which brings me to what else I’ve been doing this summer…giving back. This past week was an especially busy week of volunteering. Even before I got sick, I have always been big on volunteering. In fact, I think back to my days in college and vividly remember being involved in service projects with my fraternity. After college, I continued helping out whenever or however I could. It was after Vicki and I got married and moved to Memphis, however, that the volunteer bug really bit me. For many many years I helped out at church and in the community with a variety of efforts that are too numerous (and too boring) to detail. Let’s just say that I did my fair share, although there are a lot of folks who have done much more volunteering than I could ever imagine.
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| Glad I don’t have allergies. |
This week I spent a significant amount of time helping out with several different charities. Last Thursday (Sept. 5th), I spent half the day putting flowers into boxes. Not just any flowers, however. These were big, plastic spinning-wheel flowers for the Alzheimer’s Association. Saturday was the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s here in Memphis. The flowers were for the Walk’s Memory Garden. Participating walkers received a flower to designate who or why they were walking. Most of you know by now that Alzheimer’s is the leading health issue for the elderly, and experts predict that in just a few years 1 out of every 3 persons over 70 will suffer some form of dementia. For me, this cause is especially personal since my mom is quickly losing her battle with dementia. Her mental and physical health have declined significantly in the past 18 months.
I also helped out for a few hours on Saturday (Sept. 7th) at the Walk. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much purple! I got to direct traffic, which was okay at first. But when people are showing up 10 minutes before the walk is to begin…that’s not fun. (Think Kevin James in Mall Cop. That’s how I felt towards the end of my shift.) Giving back, however, is not about fun – it’s about doing your part. Which brings me to my other volunteer adventure.
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| I did hang out under the tent. |
On Friday (Sept. 6th), I volunteered for a very unique fundraiser – the second annual Clays for Kids tournament to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis. Yes, a clay shooting tournament fundraiser! Only in the South. I could not believe the turnout! And these folks were serious about their clay shooting. It was a great afternoon, but, as I mentioned previously, it was held (of course) outside, and it was hot, very hot.
I enjoyed working this event and meeting a very different group of people. No, the participants were not all bubbas, and most were really friendly and approachable. It helped me to remember that everyone deserves to be judged on their actions, not on how they look or our own perceptions. What’s that saying…”never judge a
book by its cover.” Very true.
Finally, giving back this past week reminded me that everyone has a place in this world, and it’s up to us to recognize what’s truly important – being there for others. Whether it’s being a good spouse, parent, or friend, we all have a place that is our own. It’s simply a matter of figuring out where we belong and where we can be most helpful, as all of us – myself included – continue life’s journey.
Until tomorrow….
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Writer’s note: I’ve been on a brief hiatus since before Labor Day. You’ll see several posts today and tomorrow as I play catch-up.
Back to School
The end of August brought another change to our household. Emily, our oldest, went back to school to start her sophomore year at the
University of Maryland. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, I posted a few pictures of Emily’s new dorm. While moving Emily back in was almost a non-event, for me, being on a college campus – once again – brought back memories that were both good and, unfortunately, somewhat sad.
College Memories – Dorm Life
I have always enjoyed being on a college campus. It doesn’t matter if I attended the university, or not. Or even if I’m just visiting a school for a tour. There is something about college life – the energy or the vibe that campus life radiates – which I feed off of and makes me feel a bit younger at the same time. I certainly felt that energy, initially, when we got reacquainted with Maryland and its beautiful campus.
The campus is spread out, but still very walkable, and I love the architecture of its buildings. As I said in my Facebook post, Emily is now living in one of the newest dorms on the north side of the school’s campus. On each floor or her new dorm is a laundry room, four separate lounges, and several study rooms. Best of all, this dorm has central AC.
Emily’s new dorm is nice. Very nice. Reflecting on our dorm experiences, Vicki and I were jealous.
College Memories – Arrogance of Youth
My energy level faded a bit as our visit wore on. Maybe it was the heat (mid 90s with no breeze) or the medicine (Gleevec causes fatigue) or a combination of the two. Perhaps, however, it was the sight – in the student union just outside the main bookstore – of all those college kids in their prime, beginning another year of school. I remember those days: the arrogance, the cockiness, the insecurities, the hope, the craving to find out who you really are. And none of it with any thought about how your present actions may impact your long term future. At that age, you’re going to live forever!
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| The “arrogance” of youth? |
Then I saw it. Right outside a meeting room where they were selling wall posters. Posters that would go in dorm rooms all over campus. A poster just sitting there, labelled “Timeless Classic,” propped up next to other wall posters with more current themes: Breaking Bad, Dr. Who, The Avengers, even Kim Kardashian (whatever?). An “old school” poster with the message, “Who cares about the future? I’m living for right now!”
College Memories – Back to the Future
I couldn’t believe that in 2013 the “Animal House” mentality so many of
old timers emulated back in the day is still alive and well on many college campuses. It brought back those college memories – good times and bad times. The sadness, I mentioned earlier, also began to envelope me.
My life may soon be over!
Sitting by myself (Emily was in the bookstore getting her text books), I watched all the action around me. It was as if I wasn’t even there. I wanted to shout out, “I’m sick, I have cancer! My life may soon be over. Think about what you’re doing now. Make smart choices. Be safe and be a good person. Listen to me…I’ve made thousands of mistakes. I know it sounds crazy, but you’ve got to do more with your life. Don’t waste it on being wasted!”
What you do with your life is the hard part.
Then I realized…You only learn by trial and error. And the only way you experience life is by doing, not just sitting on the sidelines watching. Hopefully, you’ll make good choices at every point in your journey, but sometimes you’ll make the wrong decision – which is better than making no decision at all. We’ve all just got to live, and – we hope – live a long and productive life. (Or, as Mr. Spock would say, “Live long and prosper.”)
I think there’s a quote that goes, “Living is easy, it’s what you do with your life that’s the hard part.”
And so the journey continues…..
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May 22, 2020 – To say that my birthday (May 20th) helped restore my faith in humanity would be a bit hyperbolic. I would say, however, that the outpouring of well wishes and Happy Birthdays from friends, colleagues, and family meant so much to me. Obviously, I enjoyed the attention, and it left me with some great memories along with a warm feeling deep inside my restless soul.
