Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

A friend sent me this today.

A Christmas Poem

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 "It's 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,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before.
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 for my sister or 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."

Sunshine on our 'brown' Christmas morning. Glorious anyway, however it may be. Looking forward to a most wonderful day and hoping everyone has just the same. See you all soon.

Blessings,

Jackie

great poem, sandra.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Good Morning and we had a tremendously lovely day yesterday, but rain today. In fact, sounds like we have this through even up to Monday. Have to watch out for flash floods as well. Not at all fun after a great holiday day. Still, it was unusual since we often have snow for Christmas Day and if not that, at least plenty of cold air to make you think Christmas a little easier.

It was warm enough yesterday to do without a coat if you had a sweatshirt on. By late afternoon the light coat had to go back on. It is something of a relief to have gotten through the day and turn to thinking of all the things to get done before the New yr. in a brief 6 days. So hard to think we are so close to the beginning of 2016. Somehow, the end of the year ( at least for me ) snuck up really fast.

While I think I will be gone for a couple of days beginning tomorrow sometime ( I may not have to be gone real early ) plans could be changed due to the weather which sounds like it is going to be rather awful. I won't know till later today. Otherwise, I will be home last Monday or likely mid-day or so on Tuesday.

Tuesday I start going over to my friends' and watching her house and cats until she gets back on Saturday so I will stay busy. Guess some time today I will go out and find a calendar or some kind. Not that I like the idea of the madhouse out there. There are breaks in the rain so it should be ok, but still not truly fun. I was out on the 24th. and everyone in this little berg must have been out too. Lots of cars on the road and parking lots full to the brim. There are only about 14,000 people who live here, but very, very few were home on the 24th. It could be that way today. Yikes. I forgot something at Wal-Marts and it is a good place to get a calendar.

I'll be looking in later and I'll see you then.

Blessings

Jackie

We got a calendar from Audubon that features wood cuts of birds. I took art lessons from the woman who did the wood cuts. I try to get something of hers each year. It's a big huge one right by the phone with plenty of room to write appointments.

Our weather cleared for Christmas Day and featured weak sunshine. We've had sort of endless rain.

This is the latest we’ve ever gone without a wall calendar for the next year--we usually get them from DH’s church, charities, businesses, etc. We have a basic fridge-magnet one from our neighborhood realtor. Weather is wet & yucky, and my cold is not helping my motivation to leave the house (we took Uber to & from our friends’ home for dinner last night). Already postponed my voice lesson (Skype, thank goodness) from Thu. till tomorrow, but I doubt I’ll get through it w/o coughing fits by then. (No real laryngitis yet--still have a couple of octaves but with a pronounced “yodel” register break, and crummy tone). My cold, stress, and perhaps something in the air have caused the seborrheic dermatitis on my face to flare up--not inclined to go out with red flaky patches on my face, and makeup covers the redness but accents the flakes. Yuck. Derm can’t take me for at least 3 wks., so will try washing my face with Head & Shoulders. (DH does that for the rash he sometimes gets from his eyeglass frames). Can’t shampoo with it, as the sodium & sulfates in it would strip both the keratin & color from my hair. Hoping it’s not psoriasis--anything that would put it into remission would immunosuppress me and increase the chances of both recurrence and new cancers.

Sandra, the Inter-Continental is our winter stay-cation getaway spot (as opposed to the Oak Lawn Hilton, when DH has to read echocardiograms early the next morning at Advocate Christ). That pool is AWESOME! It may even be on an architectural landmark tour. The views from the window seats in many rooms are gorgeous and iconic. We like to go across the street to eat at Purple Pig (despite the inevitable long waits) or walk a bit further to Eataly via the pedway from the Shops at North Bridge. And we also like ENO, the wine/cheese/chocolate bar in the lobby.

Bet you passed within a few blocks of my house when you drove from Andersonville up to Evanston!

Love, love the pics and I wish I were there too. Just a reminder -- going to work tomorrow and not home again until Tues night. I'll miss all of you and sharing my quote, but I'll be back soon.

Blessings,

Jackie

Not much going on here, been raining during the night. Christmas was quiet. Had DH daughter and family over in the afternoon, that was about all. Was too late to make dinner so went and looked for someplace to eat. Denny's was open and busy!

I'm enjoying hearing and seeing some of Chicago. There is so much that is new. ChiSandy, been in the Christ Advocate ER when we were home for my 50th reunion, had my first tachy episode! Took my nursing training At Evanston Hospital, a zillion years ago! We lived on the South Side, but my grandparents were in Wilmette. Memories. The pictures from your Med cruise are lovely. Sandra keep enjoying your Chicago trip too! We haven't got travel plans til spring. Waiting for winter here, supposed to be ice on tues. DD coming up and stopping on her way to Mass , for a few hours tomorrow. She lives in MAryland. My kids are scattered across the country. Take care everyone. Jean

Love the pictures. What a wonderful trip you had, ChiSandy and, Sandra, you're making me want to go back to Chicago. So glad you're having such a good time and doing interesting things.

Today I'm going shopping with a niece and her three children. Two of the children live with their dad in MS now but are visiting their mother for a few days. She has moved to Orange, TX, so I seldom get to see her or her 6 yr. old daughter, who has a different father. The older children have really enjoyed getting to see their half-sister. They're all staying with my sister. Tomorrow the niece will return to Orange and my sister and I will take the two older children back to MS. A five hour round trip.

Guess I'd better get moving. Have a good Monday!

I love to hear what everyone is doing. Keep it coming! The cruise pictures were gorgeous! I especially enjoyed the sign for street food (StritFUD, haha.)

We had a long day yesterday. We were out the door at 7 for a half mile walk to the L brown line into the city, then a walk through the pedway to the South Shore train for our trip to So. Bend. Loved getting the senior rate! My sister in law Lisa (Mike's bone marrow stem cell donor) picked us up. I hadn't been in So. Bend in many years. Mike grew up there so we've visited a few times, just not in about 25 years. Right after we got married in 1970 we moved to his father's farm just over the Michigan border in a little town called Cassopolis. Mike worked for his dad until he left for Air Force Officer Training School and I stayed behind. Since his sister and mother lived in South Bend, I spent all my non-working hours in the city. Yesterday Lisa drove us around some of the places I remembered...not surprisingly, corn fields are now major highways with traffic and shopping centers and the downtown is a sad relic. I saw my niece, who is now a grandmother, and her daughter whom I saw when she was a baby. I met Lisa's husband, Brian, and we all had a wonderful time visiting and catching up.

Before long it was dark and time to get back to the train for the return trip. We were pretty tired so the walk - L - walk plan was vetoed in favor of another call to Lyft. There were there in exactly 1 minute and dropped us at Allison's apartment door. I think we both were asleep an hour later.

This morning I awoke to snow!!!! Yay!!! I went outside to play in it of course. Even got to wear my goofy hat.

The trip to Wisconsin was postponed and since my friend Monica (whom I met on another BC.org thread and have visited before) lives a couple of hours north of the state line. It is likely to be too treacherous for her to drive tomorrow. Looks like we'll have to see each other next time I visit.

Okay, folks, tonight we leave the snow and ice behind and continue our trip to sunny Sicily. Next stop, Trapani and points south.

Cathedral dome, Trapani (from our ship):

Downtown Trapani, from the ship:

Exterior, Cathedrale di Santa Maria, Monreale (started in the 10th century, finished between the 13th & 14th):

Former church, now the Diocesan Museum, Monreale. (Note the street sign on the left--every Italian city we visited has a street named after king Victor Emanuel, who consolidated a crazy-quilt of city-states into a unified Italy):

Apse, Cathedrale di Santa Maria, Monreale. Note the hodgepodge of architectural styles, the result of successive regimes and then the reconstruction of the interior after both natural disasters and WWII.

Detail over altar (sorry for the focus problems due to extreme tele mode). The windows are not stained glass (the mountaintop Sicilian summer sun through glass could actually cause wood to ignite, or at least worshipers to faint) but rather very thin yet translucent alabaster!

Detail of mosaics, which depicted Bible stories. This was the only Biblical education for the masses, who were illiterate--the only Bibles available were hand-scribed and available only to clergy:

East-meets-west architecture in microcosm: marble Corinthian column topped with Byzantine capital beneath Moorish tile:

Side chapel:

Lest we think ecumenicism was a 20th-century invention:

Detail, altarpiece (made of silver mined in Mexico during Conquistador era, when Sicily was ruled by Aragon):

Okay, let’s go back outside! Looking up the mountainside from Piazza Santa Maria, Monreale (note the Renaissance-era cellular phone towers upper right):

Cloister and fountain, center of Monreale:

On to Palermo. As grand as this is, it’s not the cathedral, just one of the many churches & a cloister in the Old Town:

More Palermo after dinner!

ChiSandy, those photos are magnificent especially after all the sleet and rain we had today. It was miserable getting around, but G-d took care of me and I made it safely.

Puffin: NO, NO INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE RADS - I put it on 5 hours before radiation.
Linda: Did Dr tell you not to put the aquaphor on within 4 hours before your radiation treatment? Use it liberally after the treatment, but not before.

Sandra, glad you've been having fun in Chicago and getting around. When I was young, I wanted to get married at the Intercontinental, but reality came up and we just had a smaller wedding at the synagogue social hall.

Great news! Brother-in-law is OUT and I have the keys back. Danced around the house in my jammies. I'm so happy and more relaxed. He did leave some things her with our permission, and we'll deal with that later. But, we have our house back and my car is back in the garage. I'm so excited!

I'm started back today with the radiation. Am not sure how many visits yet or what lotion to use. I have to bring in the cream I used for the skin irritation. I'm hoping it's just aloe or calendula and am not looking forward to spending more $ on what I need to use. $15 down the drain for the Aquaphor. But, no one knew I'd have that kind of reaction.

The techs are so wonderful and the RO and his nurse are pretty good.

Time to get ready for bed. Have a good night and drive safely.

Linda B.