I did not want to write a post until I had the results of my hip, but at this stage I still don’t have them. I am clearly not meant to get the feedback during November as the universe has different plans to me. Wednesday morning Dr L phoned me to say that we need to do a MRI scan (that is going into that machine that looks like a huge coffin). This was done Thursday and after waiting for nearly 2 hours for the pics and report, I dropped them off with Dr L only to find out that she has the afternoon off! Damn!!! Phoned Dr L’s rooms again this morning around 11 only to have the receptionist look for the pics – she found them after about 10 minutes of holding the line but that means Dr L had still not looked at them. I saw Dr V on Thursday too. He is just so gentle and kind. My body has healed itself well and the left ovary looks ok and no new cysts have formed (another scan). When one spends many hours in a hospital, like I did Thurs, you realise how lucky you are. There are always people who are worse off in many ways. I am ok, I have my ups and downs but that is normal. I am going to conquer this battle.
Tuesday evening was the first evening I cooked dinner for the family since the operation 6 weeks ago. I am just so blessed to have people around me who provide for the little things. Things we all take for granted. Dinners are delivered and some dear friends even bring frozen home cooked meals for the difficult days still to come. I just love South Africans and the natural caring nature! I just love South Africa with all its warts.
For the past 6 to 7 weeks I have had a constant display of fresh flowers in the home. These range from beautiful bouquets, formal bunches to home grown flowers loving picked and dropped off with a hug and a kiss. How spoilt can a girl be! I have had roses, St Joseph Tiger and Inca lilies, carnations, happy sunflowers, daisies, you name the flower and it has stood proudly in my home brighten my every day. Thank-you!
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If you haven't already the website:
hystersisters.com
is a free chat site that has very good information about hysterectomy's. They also have a cancer concerns chat room for those of us with cancer. There is a lot of support there, and a lot of good information from people who have gone through it.
hi ada
see you soon sister. stay tough and stay bright
colin xxx
i don't know you very well, but your last sentence....
"has stood there proudly in the living room brightening every day"
... the people buying those flowers probably feel that sentence applies to you as well.
great post.
tess
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December, '
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. '
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue...an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,'
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'
The Daffodil Principle
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to
see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a
two-hour drive. "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little
reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised and reluctantly
I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed
by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted
my grandchildren.
"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and
fog and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I
want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time,
Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then
I'm heading for home!"
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks,"
Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."
"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you
miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a
small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign
with an arrow that read " Daffodil Garden ". We got out of the car, each
took a child's hand and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we
turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious
sight.
It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it
over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were
planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep
orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink and saffron and butter
yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that
it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There
were five acres of flowers.
"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn.
"Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's
her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and
modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the
house.
On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are
Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000
bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two
hands, two feet and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958".
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this
woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun,
one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure
mountain top. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown
woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time,
she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and
inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the
greatest principles of celebration.
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time -
often just one baby-step at time - and learning to love the doing, learning
to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with
small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish
magnificent things. We can change the world.
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have
accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty
years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those
years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.
"Start tomorrow," she said.
She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays.
The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for
regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"
Use the Daffodil Principle...
Stop waiting...
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...
There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never
begin.
Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
Hi Alida, spoke to captain this morning (belated birthday call)
He gave us the great news re the latest results - we are all thrilled.Now it's just a matter of getting 100% better.
Still print out when there's new post and take home for Jacqui. They all send their love.
Get better soon!
Love the Louw's
Dear Alida, I am back. Have been on training in Johannesburg and then an extended long weekend on Beacon Island. Have read your sections that I have missed and all the wonderful responses. I am so glad that you are doing fine... and learning all the time... planting the daffodil bulbs one by one...
Hi Alida,
It must be frustrating to have to wait and wait and wait for doctor's to be available to get more news.
I hope you love the Belgians too !( for as long Belgium still exists - severe political crisis here)
3 kisses
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