"Had a bad time with mucus this am and couldn't keep my breakfast down. Felt fine afterward and worked mostly a full day. I am scheduled to go back to work full time starting the first of the month. I am still tired a lot, but manage to get through the day. My dry mouth persists and I need liquid/water to keep my mouth from sticking closed when I try to talk.
It seems ages ago when I was too weak to walk and unable to talk much. We still keep the stair lights on at night ever since I fell down the stairs in the dark during my recovery. I feel fine most of the time and often have no thoughts of my previous issues and discomfort. Oddly enough, the most permanent change I am still going through is my distaste for ice cream and chocolate. All things considered, it is a small price to pay for the way I feel now. My family doesn't complain as they know the box of See's candy is safe around me."
That was me, two years and eight days ago. I was about ready to go back to work. Now I am about ready to retire. Financially, I probably should work another five years, but the value of TIME has escalated and there are 'promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep'. A lot has changed. Ice cream is now a weekly treat, my mouth is not so dry all the time and I don't always need water to swallow bread. I have good energy, but take a short 'rest my eyes for a minute' occasionally, the stair light isn't on all night, and See's candy (dark chocolate with nuts) is no longer safe.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost - 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening'
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| Bob on Bass - first public appearance |
If it weren't for this Cancer experience, I probably would never embraced the urgency of time left available to me and moved different goals to the top ten list. This music thing has got to be just about the most fun I have ever had.
Today, at group rehearsal, the teacher asked everyone if they wanted to have another rehearsal next week. I was the only one to say yes. The average age of the other students is about twelve. They probably see it as a chore, albeit a pleasurable one for most, but an obligation their mothers push them to do and practicing is 'OMG - Do I HAVE to?' It gets in the way of their 'fun'.
As for me, I want to do this all the time - I choose it over TV, movies, Blogging, etc. Am taking a current break because, in the immortal words of Ringo Starr (Beatles/White Album/Helter Skelter) 'I've got blisters on my fingers".
Admittedly, my situation is much different. They are learning to read music, learning proper fingering, correct technique, and starting with 'Twinkle-Twinkle, Little Star, they have slowly worked their way up to their current level. Me, I took a different approach: I ate-the-heart-out-of-the-watermelon, skipped-to-the-end-of-the-book-to-find-out-who-did-it, downloaded-the-cheat-codes-to-beat-the-game, etc. I started with Z.Z. Top, Grand Funk Railroad and Deep Purple. They have lessons - I play what I want to. They can play anything - I can only play the three songs I have memorized. They can read Music - I can't. They have a great budding talent that will only get better with time - I don't have that TIME.
They look at practicing as an obligation - I look at it as a privilege. I want to play all the time, they want to text, hang with their friends and watch TV. They probably enjoy themselves to a certain extent, but I am having a blast. Their Mom makes them do it - my Mom is Up There- thrilled enough to 'pop her buttons' if there are such things on the ethereal plane (The etheric plane is a term introduced into Theosophy to represent one of the planes of existence in neo-Theosophical and Rosicrucian cosmology. It represents the fourth [higher] sub-plane of the physical plane; the lower three being the states of solid, liquid, and gaseous matter.)
I am thankful I got a chance to experience this moment. For me, it is truly Another Day in Paradise.
One of my songs (on my upcoming album...ha) dedicated to the greatest caregiver-partner anyone could ever have...Lise: 'Some Kind of Wonderful' - Grand Funk Railroad.
rlw
