Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Alan and I are going to do something we have never done before. Since we don't have our son in our lives, we tried to volunteer to serve Christmas dinner to some people who don't have families. We called the local churches but, and this is hard to believe, they don't have things like that.

So, and we really feel blessed to do this, because we have no family so to speak, tomorrow we are going to Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, where my girlfriend has been for 2 weeks. She has stage 3 lung cancer which spread and she's anorexic so she doesn't eat anything. Actually, she won't eat anything. So Alan said "Let's go and visit Elaine for Christmas, and I said "wow, that's a great idea". So I bought a stupid Santa hat, some little gifts for her and we'll be there by 2 p.m.

Her own children don't visit her because they can't handle this and her 83 year old mom can only go when she is taken. She called me this morning very excited that Elaine won't be alone on Christmas. I said "Not to worry, when she gets through this, we have movies to see and omelletes to eat. (Elaine and I used to go out on friday evenings to a diner and have an omellette).

So while we don't know if she's going to get through this, we will be sharing Christmas with a dear friend and to me, that's the most important thing.

So merry merry and have a great eating experience.

Love ya.

Happy Holidays~

Hugs,
Jan

Just wanted all of you to know that the decorations on these threads look nicer than the decorations on my windows!!!

Hi Melody:

How wonderful that you will be visiting your friend Elaine in the hospital. And I hope she can eat that omelette and in doing so remember all the happy times you and she had through the years.

You and Alan are already a complete family and I hope that one of these days your son will be joining you again.

Merry Christmas, dear Melody. And to Alan the greetings of the season.

Shirley H.

And of course I can't resist putting in some of these super looking graphic things.

I just can't resist my dolphins. They are my absolute favorite things in the whole world.




Hope you all have a good year that is coming up.
Less pain, more answers and better health!!!

Isn't is wonderful that in the face of life's adversities, people can still find something positive to be thankful for.

I try hard to find the something good everyday that has happened to me since I have gotten to this point in my illness and everyday I am amazed, I CAN................

My wish is to become a better mom, sister and friend through this and be more sensitive and compassionate to strangers.

My biggest lesson to date:

I will not call someone up when they are sick or in crisis and ask if I can do something for them or say call if you need anything.

Most people will not call and ask, so From now on I will call and ask if I can stop by. Then I will ask if they need me to do something since I am already there maybe suggest some things that I know they can't do at that point.

I know that I will not call anyone to come over to pick up something heavy or carry my garbage out. etc. But if they are here I am more likely to accept the help. So that has been a big thing for me because I never thought about how hard it is to ask for help until I am now in that position.

Just wanted to share one of the things I used to do but will do differently now.

Our pride is sometimes the only thing we may feel we have left, especially on the really bad days.

Hugs to all,

Judy

I will never forget the day I was throwing out the garbage and the girl upstairs, Nadine (who looks like a belly dancer and is 27 years old), runs down and grabs the pails from me and says 'Melody, you can't do this?" and I said: "and why not?" and she just looked at me and I knew she was going to say "because you're almost 60 and sick, etc.", but I had on my makeup and something quite sexy and she stopped in her tracks and I said "Now if you want to help me do the garbage pails, well, go ahead and grab that one and she burst out laughing".

She lost her mother many years ago to Creutzfeld Jacob disease (human form of Mad Cow) because her mom had had a cornea transplant and they think that is how she got it. I loved her mother and we helped each other, so now she sees me as the same age her mother would have been.

So now she wants to HELP me bring up parcels, and carry down my shopping wagon and she gets in that mode I look her dead in the eye and I go "Nadine, look at my earrings, aren't they adorable"? and she bursts out laughing and she goes "Melody, you are something, you'll never get old".

We laugh.

It's all in the mind (unless of course the body has other ideas)!!!

Mel

Mel,
What a cute story and a wonderful neighbor/friend. Until the prednisone therapy I didn't feel my age until I looked in the mirror and saw my mom.
I live alone and own a home that is way too much for me these days. Even my dog/cat roommates are becoming as much work as they are company.
I look forward to getting off the pred so at least I can look healthier than I am. Right now I look like a pregnant smiley face who should be sitting on the top of Walmart. LOL
I am only 4'10" and with 20 + lbs on this Lil body, it is very hard to feel sexy. I will let you know when I find my feet again. (I know they are there somewhere)
Thanks for the encouragement. I had your great attitude and I will get it back again.
Happy New Year to you,
Judy

Judy:

My grandmother was 4 feet 11. She had 10 children, (in italy), all between 10 and 15 lbs).

My mother was 5 feet tall, my uncles were all of 5 feet 2 and all my aunts were 5 feet tall.

Where the heck they got me (5 feet 7), I have no idea but growing up, I will always remember when we had company, and someone would walk into the room, they would gape at me and my mother would always say "I grow em big, don't I"???

That might account for the reason I once picked up my mother and put her on top of the refrigerator. I believe she made me mad. I must have been 18 years old and weighed a good 200 lbs at that time. She was screaming out for my father ,he came into the room, took one look at my mother sitting on top of the fridge yelling her head off, looked at me, and then said "what did your mother say this time"??

God, the things we remember.

Mel

told me: Christmas should be in our hearts and minds all year long!

Let's hope the rest of the world catches that sentiment. - j