July is here....WHAT?

Wow, I cannot believe how fast this year is going by!  We're more than half way through it.  Our parents were right; time does fly the older you get.  Remember being a kid and thinking it took FOREVER for Christmas to roll around each year?  Now you think, "It's Christmas already??"  The thought of the days flying by make me wish I had a more adventurous life.  Shouldn't I be scuba diving, studying for a pilot's license, and skiing in Switzerland?  When you live with a chronic illness you really think you should be living each day to the absolute fullest--or maybe I do.  But then...I realize I have a good life even if I'm not traveling to the most exotic places or experiencing the Aurora Borealis.  Just an outdoor concert with an awesome band, a glass of wine, and the hubby laughing as I sing out (badly) to the songs is LIVING.  There's a Feist song with some insightful lyrics, "And we'll collect all the moments one by one, I guess that's how the future's done".  I agree.  When I look back on my life thus far I am satisfied.  Definitely quality over quantity.  So, time will continue to fly and I will continue to think, "Where did that day, week, month go".  I'll probably never get a pilot's license, but that's okay.  I can relish in the fact that I thought about it and even went as far as to research it online.  Now, I'm off to sit on the porch on this remarkably mild afternoon and read a magazine.  That's my life and it's fabulous!

96 years young...

Last Thursday I hopped a plane to Denver to see my gramma-in-law, Marie.  She was turning the big 9-6 that following Sunday.  I met with my mom-in-law, Patty, and sis-in-law, Wendy at the Denver airport.  We girls had a great time over those 4 days.  We got to see Gramma's sisters, all 3 of them.  Each one over 85!  They're an amazing bunch.  They get together and talk about the old times on their farm and they LAUGH, LAUGH, and LAUGH!  It's so contagious!  Gramma is the oldest so she, of course, has the most memories.  Gramma was born in 1914 and just to be around her and hear her speak of all of things that have gone on in this world since then is just amazing.  I feel like a newborn compared to all of the wisdom she has.  I am so fortunate to have her in my life.  All four of my grandparents and step-grandfather have passed away so I feel especially close to her; I call her 'Gramma' and have told her that she's become my surrogate grandparent.  Heck, this lady even flew in for a surprise birthday party for me when she was 90!  As you can tell I have great admiration and respect for her.  I think she enjoyed having us around, Patty, Wendy, and I tried to pamper her as much as we could in the 4 days we were there.  We took her shopping.  Wendy and I acted as her personal shoppers as we grabbed outfits and brought them to her for her opinion.  In the end, we bought 2 nice outfits and a lovely blazer that looked beautiful on her.  On her actual birthday we took her to one of her favorite restaurants, The White Fence Farm.  This was the second time I had been to this restaurant and it never disappoints!  The food is served 'family style' and you get your fill of bean salad, cottage cheese, cole slaw, yummy corn fritter sprinkled with powdered sugar, and beets.  Next, they bring out the delicious fried chicken--YUM!  The waitresses sang 'Happy Birthday' to Gramma and she and I split a piece of lemon meringue pie and Patty and Wendy split some chocolate toffee pie.  We all left for our separate destinations the next day.  It was hard leaving Gramma, but we promised to be back.  Later that day, I called her to tell her I'd arrived home and she said she was so grateful for us.  That day after we left she was able to sit down and relax and not worry about a thing.  We had left plenty of food in the fridge and cleaned her house.  This blog post is just a tribute to a great woman, a great matriarch, an admirable human being.  I hope for many, many more birthdays for Gramma Marie!

I remember when...

This weekend started with a wonderful walk to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Casey and I participated and the weather was perfect.  It was not too hot, like last year, and it was breezy.  We cruised along and I couldn't help but notice all of the kids this year.  I can always tell the CF kids from the healthy kids because CF kids (as well as adults are always super skinny).  I found myself looking at every kid as we passed by.  They were acting like kids, running along the wall surrounding Duke's east campus.  Girls teasing the boys, and vice versa.  I saw so many petite little blond girls walking this year.  Every time I passed one I thought, "I remember when that was me."  The nasal sounding voice, the skinny legs, the blond hair--all me about 25 years ago.  Every time I passed one I took a second and thought, "God please let these girls AND little boys grow up like I was able to".  If there isn't a cure soon the reality is some of these kids won't.  It's hard to think back to a time when I was this tiny, but it wasn't long ago.  So, please say a little prayer that these kids grow up tall, strong, and healthy.  I know these are the things I wished for as a short blond kid with skinny legs and  a terrible cough.  God willing we will beat this disease.  Let it be any day now.

Two dorks=True Love

10 years ago today...

I was getting married.  Wow!  I can't believe it's been 10 years, yet I can't believe it's only been 10 years.  We've gone through so much in 10 years.  Let's see, Dana gets incredibly sick on the honeymoon, Dana goes into ICU for 2 months, Dana recovers enough to be listed for a lung transplant, Dana, Casey, and Dana's mom move to NC, Dana gets her transplant, Dana gets incredibly sick, Dana stays in ICU for 2 months, Dana recovers and goes home.  Okay, kids, that all happened in the first year of our marriage!  I figure if my man can deal with that he can deal with ANYTHING!  Life's been nicer to us in the years following that one.  I've done relatively well and Casey has been inching his way up the career ladder at Duke.  We've been fortunate enough to have lived in two neat houses.  We're almost done with the newest one.  Casey blew me away with his handyman skills.  There's not a room in here that hasn't been touched by him.  Plumbing, electrical, flooring....the list goes on.  Oh, and he can hang a picture like nobody's business. :)  I'm a lucky girl.  Not because of all of the handyman skills and the houses or any of that really.  Just because, Casey is a good guy with a good heart and he makes me laugh every day.  Even when I'm mad at him I can't stay that way long.  I don't believe in actual 'soulmates' but I'm glad the universe introduced us.  We fit.  I'm wishing for at least 10 more years with this guy.

inevitable

So far in this new decade there have been too many losses. I know that death is inevitable; believe me I KNOW. It comes at you fast or it can come at you slowly. Either way it comes. It takes the people and the creatures that we love. Today it came and took my beautiful sister-in-law's mother. She fought her fight, the nasty fight with breast cancer, and unfortunately she lost. I feel her pain for losing a mother too soon. I feel the pain for every child or adult who's lost a mother too soon. Our mothers are the vessels for which we landed on this planet. They were once our life force. The inevitable has come too soon for this woman, a woman who tonight is simply a motherless child. That is the title she's taken for this moment. I am feeling so grateful right now to know that my mother is safe, healthy, and secure. I pray that as 2010 goes on it is kinder to everyone I love. I also pray that hope lifts those for whom it will not be kind to.

You're in a good, good place

Those were the words my doctor said to me today. Today was my follow up appointment from when I had my bronch, which was very complicated. Remember, with bleeding (lots), a finding of staph, and the high fever. Well, I recovered--thank goodness. Dr. P was very happy that my pulmonary function tests were back up and back to normal. He looked at me, smiled and said, "You're in a good, good place considering you're nearly 10 years out". I feel so very fortunate right now. Taking care of my body has been my full-time job for sooooo long and it's nice to know that it's paying me for all of my hard work. Now, if I could just get the pesky sinuses to fall into line. Of course, I couldn't do any of this without those special lungs--the ones that were put into my body and have decided (for the moment) that they really like being in there. I promise, dear lungs taken from another, to always treat you well. Physically you reside by my heart and spiritually you reside in my heart. That's all, just blissful for life and the life that is regifted everyday.