I had a wonderful weekend in Casey, Illinois visiting friends. I have to say, Casey (at least to me) is in the middle of nowhere. It's an exit off Route 70. It's been a few years since I visited and it's wonderful to see the downtown area coming back to life. They are fixing up buildings and have some wonderful ideas for bringing in some tourist dollars. They are becoming the town of "big" things and it's so fun to see. I will need to return as they add items to the "big" things list.
It was fun to see my young friend Brock graduate from high school. He has so much life ahead of him. I hope he finds his passion and enjoys many things in life. As I told him, as long as it's legal he will have my support in any endeavor.
I have to say I did have a "life flash before me" moment last Friday. As the plane was landing in Indianapolis we were pretty close to the runway, when suddenly I felt the engine thrust and we are heading back up into the air. I could not see anything, but the pilot announced, when we were up in the air, that there was a plane on the runway already. I have no idea how close we were, but it did get my heart pumping a bit.
When I was at the airport yesterday trying to catch up a little bit with email, I read a wonderful heartfelt email from a friend. We have been friends for several years and we pop in and out of each other's lives as we live in different parts of the country. He spent many hours over the weekend catching up with me via the blog. I had tears in my eyes as I read all the nice things he said about me. I know he wrote from his heart. One of the things he mentioned is that I put a lot of myself into this blog and have revealed more via the blog than I ever did in person. This is so true. Over the years, I have used the blog as a way to work things out in my head and in my heart. Thank you so much for coming along on my journey.
I celebrated my 59th birthday last Friday (yes the day my life flashed before my eyes). I heard from so many people either via FB or with cards. Thank you so much for your thoughts and love.
I read the following books last week (love the time I get to read at airports): 1. "LEARNING TO SPEAK ALZHEIMER'S" by Joanne Koenig Coste. Very good book about communications between carepartners and patients. 2. "TALKING TO ALZHEIMER'S" by Claudia J. Strauss. Very well written with good ideas about connecting with a patient when visiting. 3. "THE BROKEN ROAD" by Richard Paul Evans. This is the first book in a series of three. This is about a broken man given a new chance by a twist in fate. Good read. (I read his Walk series and loved it.)
I am going to leave it here for today. Have to get ready for some appointments and walk Lady. Life moves on and I need to as well. Have a good week. Take care. Chat soon. Marie
"WE LIVE BY ENCOURAGEMENT AND DIE WITHOUT IT - SLOWLY, SADLY, AND ANGRILY." Celeste Holm
"THOUGH ONE CAN'T ALWAYS REMEMBER EXACTLY WHY ONE HAS BEEN HAPPY, THERE IS NO FORGETTING THAT ONE WAS." W. H. Auden