Hindsight is not helpful in changing past decisions, but it will save you some heartache in the future. Not to be disingenuous, I should have either waited until we returned to have the defibrillator surgery or postponed the trip until I had healed sufficiently to enjoy all that Italy has to offer. Yet, I am... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, Douglas and I drove to a small city called Cerratina for a cooking lesson. We were prepared for a esoteric experience, as I thought of Italian cooking as difficult to do. But while it was more elbow work than expected, the actual making of pasta was quite interesting. We were greeted by Rosy and... Continue Reading →
You know when you travel that not everything is going to go smooth, and it is no less true this trip. We expected me to have health problems, but it is Douglas who has come down with a cold. I think he may have been already incubating the illness, because he got sick yesterday. Neither... Continue Reading →
We are here! A little worse for wear, but preparing to have a great time, with pictures added each day, hopefully. I had surgery last Tuesday to place a new pacemaker with defibrillator that required me to stay a night in the hospital, because I was slow to overcome the anesthesia. Still, the doctor said... Continue Reading →
Caroline looked at William, her intended, with his head down on the table in a drunken stupor, still holding on to his first "love," a bottle of booze. She loved him, but she had witnessed this scene too many times to return to that darkness. She wouldn't return to Egypt. She was reminded of her... Continue Reading →
At one of the churches I once attended, I was asked to be a mentor for young women who were part of the Women's Ministry. It required being a spiritual compass of sorts for new Christian women, helping them understand the Scriptures and how to live a life acceptable to God. I turned it down,... Continue Reading →
My surgery for the defibrillator was put off for a week, meaning that we will leave on our trip three days after I have outpatient surgery. But, no problem, it's not like we will be traveling by covered wagon, and I will not have a large incision, so I should be good, but prayers are... Continue Reading →
In elementary school, our teacher, Mrs. Geraldine Hawkins, introduced us to the poetry of Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and other black poets. The poems made us laugh, cry, reflect, and reminded us that we were identical to whites, all of us Americans. We were required to learn each poem line by line, reciting them... Continue Reading →
Even though Douglas has been teaching a class on healthy living at our church and has been eating much healthier, he's having a hard time losing more than five to ten pounds. As I prepare for my new reality, having my own personal defibrillator in my chest, I, too, need to lose some pounds, something... Continue Reading →
