10 Thoughts to Change the Negative to Positive

The past few weeks at Chateau Glass have been rough. First, we've finally been getting out of the hospitalization issues (pneumonia and hypoxia) that early winter gave us and getting ready to go through the sleep apnea stuff (my machine becomes mine at 3pm today).

Then, we have the fact that every day with Parkinson's is a challenge, so yeah.

Sometimes, not even a cheesesteak can solve that.

Work has been busy for both of us, and juggling other issues of life with it, yeah... it's definitely a challenge.

With that, my wife had to have on the spot gallbladder surgery, which saw her miss 11 days of work. Yes, she's better now, but that smarts both of us (the patient, the caregiver, and the extended family support team). Fortunately, she had minimal surgery (on the left) and was in and out the same day.

Then, on Sunday, I got into a car accident that destroyed my beloved Yaris. Fortunately, both the guy driving the other truck (a Dodge Ram) and I were OK, though I'm shook up and sore on the left side. All things considered, so much of it could have been worse. My car, officially-named the Macho Dude, took the hit squarely and kept me safe. The Yaris takes a lot of abuse, but I loved mine.

Unfortunately, it "died" in order to keep me safe.

Before the accident, it gave me 251,000+ miles. My mechanic at Meineke said it owed me nothing. I would have liked 50,000 more miles, but life happens the way it does for a reason.

So I got another Yaris and went to 2016 (I had 2007), and while it's not new, it's new to me. I'm still thinking of a name for it.

We can contemplate being in the book of Jobs (see quote above) or the Book of Job (even though it's Biblical, it is taught in literature classes as well - essentially, why does the universe / God test good people with bad situations), or we can focus on the good things in life and stay as strong as possible while we work it all out.

Like I always say about my wife and me: "We'll get through. It's what we do."

If we don't stop to see our good opportunities in the midst of life, we might miss the chance to make someone else's life better.

One of my greatest do-overs in life would be to sing Christmas carols for Laney, a local girl who died on Christmas day a few years ago. Many people came to do it. It was national news. Even Taylor Swift played a part. At the time, I didn't investigate the story more because I didn't realize it was only 25 minutes away. It's a very life-affirming story, and now they have a small memorial to her gentle spirit. However, I was so caught up in me that I didn't see what I could do for someone else.

Regret, regret, regret.

So with that, I give you this week's list of things to stay half full and optimistic in spite of our own issues.

#1) Never give up an opportunity to give a real or metaphorical Toyota "Oh, what a feeling" jump when the opportunity presents itself.

#2) Get your family involved in your life. In this case, my mom did a Parkinson's walk with me a few weeks ago.

#3) Count yourself lucky when your family stands with you and supports you through tough times.

#4) Cherish your memories of family.

#5) Live vicariously through young people. Encourage, inspire, and educate them while having fun with them or supporting their fun.

#6) Look at the stars in wonder of how small whatever is in our life really is.

#7) Sit outside and let the world drift by at the fireplace.

#8) When life gives you night herons, stop to admire them and take their pictures.

#9) 1 word - massage.

#10) Take time to smell the flowers, especially the tulips, which are the official flower of Parkinson's Awareness. These pictures are from my wife's garden.

I Wish You a Luckier Alternative Birthday

My wife doesn't have luck with birthdays.

In 2015, she took out her ACL in Icebox Canyon while we were in Vegas. There's no point recounting the story here since you can see the future movie in all of its details at the link above.

This year, the doctors took out her gallbladder the day before her birthday after it flared up again on Sunday night. While they couldn't find any gallstones in the past, and she had been to the doctor several times over the years, they found a 1cm marble this time, and WHAM! The doctor called it, and she went to surgery that afternoon.

Historically, my Gram had her gallbladder removed when it basically became a sack full of marbles.

A little over a decade ago, my dad also had a gall bladder "adventure," where they nicked him and didn't catch it. After he got to recovery, his blood pressure wasn't stable, but they felt he was OK. My mom protested that he wasn't, and he won a several day hospital stay. Mind you, many procedures are either in and out or out the next day. It was a scary memory, one that I remembered as I waited for the news that Heather would come out of surgery OK.

Long story short, she obviously did recover and amidst yet another onion snow in spring, we all breathed a sigh of relief with those memories of the past compounded.

However, that was our Monday night adventure. Fortunately, where it could have been worse, Heather was at home by 9PM to watch the Vanderpump Rules train wreck. Featuring more regular characters than The Walking Dead and more friction that a White House press conference, it's essentially an excuse to pay horrible people to drink, fornicate, gossip, and fight with one another. I guess you could say it's the female version of the WWE without piledrivers, Rock Bottoms, and leaps off the top rope, but it puts a smile on my wife's face, so we sat there with it on, not worried about what might have been, but rather that we were back home.

Since that time, Heather has gotten much better, and while there is still pain from the 3 holes (one of which is just a lengthening of the belly button), there is a feeling of happiness and relief that the worst of it is over, and that the things that were worse than that didn't come.

This makes me happy because I need Pookaford J. Bear around. She's my wife and my best friend, and I was glad that I could be her caregiver through all of this. However, I'd rather think about the good times we're going to spend together instead of the near misses.

Besides, we've spent too much time in the hospital already.

In honor of my wife's 43rd birthday, I am including some memories of our "young and in love" days in the posts.

Up first is an old one, which was my wedding vows.

The next one is our wedding playlist, which was my responsibility.

Next comes our First Date, which is a story for the ages.

Additionally, here is a repeat of our finally realized Second Date.

This is the story of her wedding gift to me - a Roger Maris rookie card.

The next 2 are old posts as well.

Disney Pixar's Up, the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize," and growing old together.

Love is a Good Thing