I’m so grateful.  One characteristic that has remained ingrained in me is patience, especially with myself.  I remember the first time I tried contact lenses.  I have worn glasses since I was very young, under the age of five.  When I was in my late thirties, I decided I would try contacts, my doctor said…

I remember when I first came home from the hospital, there was a litany of people coming to help.  I know I am so blessed with family and friends; I think it was months before I was alone.  My dear friend William came to stay, I love him – we get very silly when were…

Here I go again, off on a trip.  As soon as the ticket was booked, I became anxious. I felt that feeling of having my feet nailed to the floor.  The good news is that I’m nearly packed, the day before the trip, unlike last time.  I must get used to getting out of my…

Home from vacation six days ago.  As far as cooking a second night; I was going to make crab cakes, after the sliders I thought it best not to do the crab cakes.  It was so hard to manage the stress of cooking for 16.  My family was fine with that – plus, crab is…

The vacation is going well.  Though my anxiety is creeping in periodically.  Today, I wanted to make dinner.  I was making these good beef sliders with pickled vegetables and Siracha Aioli.  Very ingredient and labor-intensive.  I have a hard time with this recipe before I had the stroke.  But I wanted to make them because…

I leave for a family vacation today.  I’m not packed.  I’m not excited.  It was my idea and yet I feel like my feet are nailed to the ground.  This is new – not wanting to have to change my environment.  I know where all the steps are in my house, where all the little…

When I first came home from the hospital, I was shocked at how much I cried, (I’m not normally a crier, well except for things like weddings and saying goodbye to colleagues or speaking from my heart).  And, how suddenly it would happen.  I could be watching TV and I would be overwhelmed with tears,…

Remember the movie “Phenomenon”?  John Travolta plays a character named George; he’s sort of dim-witted.  The beginning of the film is George trying to keep a rabbit (or some sort of animal), out of his garden by putting a fence around the garden.  But the rabbit still seems to be able to get in and…

After I quit working, my eldest sibling had fallen ill and passed away in December of 2019. 2020 is kind of a blur to me.  Though I did continue the drum lessons I had started before the stroke, I found it was good to keep my brain active.  I also started teaching myself how to…