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May 9,
2004 - Mothers' Day
Dear Family and Friends,
I write a day and a week late.....as in the Civil War mourning period,
a year
and a day.....It has been an interesting and emotional two weeks for
me as I
had a detached retina which resulted in a delicate eye surgery and a
lengthy
recovery period (of which I am still enjoying????) The last two weeks
have
been a quiet time for me...in order to facilitate (and hopefully insure
a
pleasingly placed retina) I have had to keep my head to the left and
chin down. It
is an interesting position. The best position is curled up on the small
couch
with a great view of visiting folks in a scarlet-flowered overstuffed
chair.
I keep the eye patched as the vision is as murky as swimming through
dark
flowing rivers and just as difficult for those trying to look inside
to my soul.
I had to scratch
out the month of May....on my agenda.
School...banquets...Young Author conferences...book club...gatherings...a
trip to Ocracoke to visit
my dearest friend...emails...gardening...kickboxing....showering (OK,
only
every other day!!)
I replaced my calendar with
unscheduled events....my dearest friend to fly to
Indiana to sing to me before surgery....Ellen and her sweetheart keeping
me
company through the days and nights before....my sister, Jessie, with
her never
ending cheering and chocolate (surgery takes a lot of calories, she
says!!!)...my group of SMP friends who have been here daily to mow and
sweep and wash
dishes and bring dinner and fill bird feeders and buy pharmacy needs
and milk
and toilet paper...my son, Adam, who flew up from Tampa to keep me company
and
to watch movies with me until 1 in the morning (it didn't matter, we
had no
where to go!!)...neighbors with kindness...letters from children...the
starting
of the "homework" club (neighborhood kids who read to me after
school and play
piano pieces with first one hand and then the other....family support
who
couldn't be here...bouquets of flowers that filled every available table
space....with all of that, how can I help but be well and happy?????
I think of some of my readers,
my new sister in law recovering after a
surprise illness...she is young and lovely and I wish all the best to
her....my
friend, Jane, who reads Sunday Passage religiously and she, herself,
confined due
to illness for the past several years. I have realized I have not been
a
friend to her...as our paths only meet on line....when I am well, Jane,
we will
sit and talk...and hold hands. I think daily of my son, Aaron, who was
diagnosed with cancer at age 22...but he fought with strength and love
and is now a
teacher and married with a new baby on the way.....our first grandbaby....now
there is another adjustment!!!
I have learned that Angola
washes serest daily with a lovely clean machine
with the Hornet Bee painted on the side...that a little dirt doesn't
really
matter....but freshly laundered and lavender scented sheets do....that
I keep my
doors unlocked all of the day so visitors can stop in to share dinner...or
talks...or gossip...I have not missed work...I have missed the people
I work
with...I have not missed the storytelling stage...but I have missed
stories....and
that I am plotting and planning on how to get to Ocracoke to see my
sweetheart
(I cannot fly for a few months because of pressure in my eyes.)
So, Mother's Day, has come
and gone...my telephone line was busy as I kept
contact which in my normal position on my small couch...I was not marching
in
the million Mom march or sharing rhubarb pie...there weren't even any
hands to
hold or hugs to give or receive....but on a day of reflecting, I am
grateful to
my Mom for life...for independence...for resilience...and to my
children...for filling my life with color and stories.
To all of you, my friends
and family, a wonderful day of spring and the
beginning of the blooming of Irises...to family...to friendship...to
love.
Lou Ann
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