Wellbeing

Vindication

It’s not the kind of vindication I wanted. Some of us go through life deluding ourselves that our experiences are wholly unique. We experience an accident or fall victim to illness and we believe we are alone. We are not alone, but we don’t know it. Maybe it’s because we’re unique among our peers, where our physical and mental injuries are concerned. The internet makes the world a little…
Read more
Wellbeing

In the UF years

People romanticize snippets of the past and I’m no different. If you listen to me talk about my UF years, you’d think: 1. I got straight As.* 2. I spent four years in Gainesville with Cheryl, a time overflowing with love, joy, learning, and fulfillment. 3. Ambrosia came with every meal. They only had enough to serve it as a side though.** 4. Classmates followed me on campus, collecting…
Read more
Wellbeing

Piles of life

Like many of my posts, I wrote the lion’s share of this one some time ago. I was inspired to polish and post it by a friend’s recent, much better post. Let me tell you a little something you may not know about sinusitis. I do not like sinusitis. I do not like it with a nose. I do not like it when it blows. I do not like it in my head. I do not like it lying in a bed. It’s been…
Read more
Wellbeing

Success or failure?

It may seem I’ve been gone for a while, but it’s not true. I’ve been here and there. I’ve just been invisible for a while. You would think I was agonizing over a feature article for the newspaper. I have two or three posts in the queue (not counting countless, abandoned ones) that are “mostly done” but I can’t bring myself to finish/post. You’ve…
Read more
Beth

Interpreting Beth

Many of you know Beth has high functioning autism. Some of you know Beth. A few of you are familiar with Beth’s low tolerance for discomfort of any kind, and the hypochondria that accompanies it.More than once we’ve played the town’s folk as Beth cried wolf, only to find later the wolf was real – and caught up to her. When she was a newborn/toddler her way too frequent…
Read more
Going for Broke

For Sale

You’ve heard a picture is worth a thousand words, but have you ever considered words can have infinite meaning? It’s the beauty of language; this thing our gray matter dreamed up to communicate. It’s so complex it’s a wonder we can keep it straight, and it explains why so many of us have trouble capturing its intricacies in print. Just the words “for sale” can…
Read more
The Sunshine State

Florida, my home

I’m a hair more moody these days, looking at life through my azure tinted glasses, but there’s a good reason. It’s nothing serious, just your garden variety, mid-medication change depression. I just thought I’d say this post is an example of effect, not cause. Last week we said goodbye to my in-laws. They’re doing something I haven’t done since the leukemia…
Read more
Going for Broke

Never

No, I should really know better. When Cheryl and I moved here from Orlando we lived with her parents until we could find a place for ourselves. For almost as long as we’ve had a place of our own, Cheryl has been keeping an eye out for a place we could share with her parents. Every time she’s proposed a place my answer was very simple. NO. I’ve never wavered. Every time I’ve…
Read more
Cancer

When cells divide

My doctor says she found cancerous white blood cells floating around my body again. They appeared in a blood smear done back in August. She doesn’t plan to treat it until certain symptoms appear – which based on the slow, chronic nature of my disease, could still be a while. I was symptom free in August (besides the hairy traitors showing themselves in my blood), and I’m symptom…
Read more
Kitchen Sink

Going against the grain

Weather wise, it was a great weekend. Emotionally, it wasn’t so great. Depression had the claws out. And yet, it was a productive weekend. Determined to do something, I did – a project I’d been putting off for cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, this meant while many of you were enjoying the mild weather, I was crawling around in our attic. Why? I’d been meaning to expand…
Read more