KarenK

Tamera, they are adorable and should brighten your day a bit, plus being a handful. It's good there are two to entertain each other.

Having a tough day. I ended up needing two teeth pulled instead of one pulled and one filled, so I went this morning for one of them. It hurts like a son of a gun. I think because it was the tooth causing my infections. That area kind of hurt all the time even when it wasn't swollen. So maybe that recurring problem is solved. The dentist sent my top denture to be reconfigured as the other broken off tooth was the anchor for that contraption. Will have that one pulled in the next couple of weeks. Oh, what fun! Not the best way to break the monotony.

Gwen, I'm so sorry that once again this woman has been cruel to you. Is she socially uneducated or just unfeeling. Being technologically challenged, I don't know what a Zoom call requires, but I would think a scheduled time would be necessary so that both parties would be available. Correct me if I'm wrong. I would value your friendship and certainly not stomp on it.

Don't we get to start counting backward at some point?😁

Wow, Kay! I think she's living out in "left field" somewhere near the Twilight Zone. I'd steer clear of her IMHO.

Doesn't sound like fun at all !!! You are one tough lady.

Thank you for the information, Marty. I'll pass it along. Did you learn the reason for the lack of cartilage?

Have any of you with arthritis ever taken Alpha Lipoic Acid for the pain? Ron used to take it for diabetic neuropathy. My son is trying to work again as we are in dire straits. When he got home yesterday, he was practically in tears from his undiagnosed hip pain. Despite xrays, ct scans, and mri's, there is still no answer. Grabbing at straws, we wonder if it might be arthritis even though he is only 40. He can't take pain meds because they make him sick.

Gin, I'm so sorry you fell. I hope your haircut was free after that. I remember slipping on a piece of food in Golden Corral many years ago. Landed on my rear. Worse part was the embarrassment of being helped up by a handsome young man. You all are doing it wrong. You're supposed to stay down until the handsome young firemen show up. lol

Gwen, although Mel can't replace Ally as a reminder of your life with Steve, I think she is trying to be your strength now by her actions. I'm so glad she is with you.

Missy, I never thought you were interested in a new relationship, but you seemed a bit critical of us by saying we depressed you. I thought perhaps you didn't want to be around us anymore. We never intend to drive anyone away. I don't think that most of us(except newer people) are experiencing raw grief, rather the ongoing grief of missing the person who was always by our side, be it 10 years or 60. We no longer have that person to help shoulder the trials and tribulations called life. It can be depressing and since we have become friends and feel safe here, we express these depressing things, any and all of them. I think some adapt better and faster to their "new normal". For some of us it's harder. I lost my daughter a year after losing my husband. It is a lot to process. Please be part of our "tribe".

Ana, you have expressed perfectly what many of us feel. The days where darkness blots out the light are part of our existence.

I'm sure if I joined Facebook, I would find a lot of old friends. I have just never bothered. I was always afraid I would blab out something that was better left unsaid like I do on here sometimes. In younger days, I was a bit of a social butterfly. I have become the caterpillar again.

Gwen, it's a bit of a comparison to what I felt for a very long time after having Ron's life support removed. I just knew I had killed him unnecessarily, when in reality I hadn't. His organs were no longer functioning and short of a miracle, they never would. I don't believe in miracles. Chances are Ally would only have gotten worse. Through love, you saved her from what might have been a painful, disastrous end. Our German Shepherd, Duke had cancer. We were trying medicine, but he died in my son's arms with a heart attack. It wasn't pretty. Just some gibberish now.......Boredom has its advantages. It gives me time to do nonsense things like search the internet for long ago school chums. I've always wondered what happened to my best friend from grade school. We were sort of "Mutt and Jeff". Last I knew she was in college. I was a new mom and our interests suddenly differed. So "poof", she was gone. I figured she had surely married, so I searched for her younger brother(unusual last name)and ran across her mother's obituary. It listed her married name in the survivors. She was always very intelligent and has done quite well. She's married to an engineer who owns his own company and designs microprocessors. He's so well known, he has his own Wikipedia page. They sponsor a foundation at ASU and live in a very elite area here. I thought about trying to get in touch with her, but heck, I'm just an old snaggle toothed peon next to her. Maybe I'll just leave well enough alone. Do you ever wonder about your old school friends?

Gwen, Walking by your side and crying silently with you.

Gwen, there are no words. Please know we are holding you in our hearts.

Got my plumbing issue fixed. I didn't see how it could be the dishwasher leaking because water was still seeping out without dishwasher being used. I felt water dripping underneath the sink below the faucet. The faucet was corroded(only 30 yrs. old) so we got a new one which my son installed. Cancelled my repair appt. and didn't have to call a plumber.

A great cake, Marg and I love the fish. I'm sure there are lots of lakes and streams in Heaven. He and Ron are probably right there together.

Most times, it doesn't matter to me what day it is. Wednesday is grocery ads and Thursday is new beads to peruse at my online store. Past that, nothing is important except in prime tv season when I have a few favorite shows. Not much to base a life on. With all you have going on, you probably base yours on medical stuff. No way to base a life either. I'm dropping Netflix at the end of the month. There's nothing more I want to watch even in the upcoming stuff. The husky sounds really cute. I've always wanted one, but will settle for Marley's part husky. The humane society had one when I adopted her. It was 6 mo. old and huge already. Too much dog for me.

Now Gwen, don't knock our southwestern states aliens. Lol I have seen many strange things in the very dark skies over northern Az out in the boonies like the one that appeared and killed my headlights at 75 mph or the avocado green man in the grocery store. That was really weird, although I doubt aliens would be doing something as mundane as grocery shopping. Still..... We have our very own Bigfoot which Ron and his friend swore they saw when hunting one year. Your northwestern states can definitely outdo us on Bigfoot. Because of a botched surgery and diabetes(I guess), we lost our intimacy back in the mid 90's. I learned to live without it, but it was a huge blow to his ego and caused a personality change which was hell to live with. I never could get him to understand that I loved the whole person, not just one piece. That's all water under the bridge now. Terrible to say, but there are times I want him to come back from the grave and apologize for things he said to me. Ain't gonna happen. I miss the love and intimacy we had before the bad times. That's what I try to remember. I think each of us think or thought we had somehow earned or deserve happiness forever. It just doesn't work that way. We each had it for a time, some longer than others. Nothing lasts forever, except maybe death and there are no happy endings except in fairy tales. A good friend of mine on the cancer forum and I both had this thought that perhaps being kind and generous(as he and my daughter were) somehow earned a person the right to happiness. It doesn't. Cancer took them both, just as it did your Steve. And yet, look at all the sleazebags that remain sailing merrily along. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it.

So sorry that you fell, Marg and that both kids are sick on top of that. A definite curse in the air!(Too much "Once Upon A Time") Gwen, I was eating the soft part of pizza and definitely knew it wasn't supposed to have rocks in it! Dentist is closed until Tuesday. I still have pain in my jaw from the last infection if you press on it. As the doctor would say "Don't press on it". Lol I checked and my contract does not cover water lines if that is the problem. I'll call Sears first to determine that. The problem with Sears is the wait time. You usually can't get an appt. for a week, although I would think leaking water is an emergency. Sure can't wait long and may have to call the plumber. He's same day service and yes, expensive. It's a pain in the rear to unload the island and move it with the hand truck to pull the dishwasher out. Oh well, gripe, gripe, gripe. Hope Ally's wound is healing.❤

Well, I am batting 1000 this week. Thought sure I was done with the dental stuff for a while. Wrong! The new bottom filling or what's left of the tooth is breaking off a little at a time. May be fixable. Worse, the anchor tooth that he capped to hold my top denture has broken off at the gum. Maybe the existing "teeth" with some added can be made into a wider denture. Don't know. I still owe $1100 from all the work I've had done. At least wearing a mask is fashionable now. As an added bonus, water is now leaking out from under my kitchen cabinets in front of my dishwasher. The dishwasher has not been run tonight. Hopefully, if it's a water line, it's covered by my contract.

Kieron, I sympathize with you. There are so many factors involved in deciding where to move, a big one being the proximity to your parents There are so many beautiful states to choose from each with their pros and cons. Kentucky is beautiful and green in spring and fall, but super humid in summer and icy cold in winter. I've never been in the eastern seaboard states, but they look beautiful on tv, except for the rugged winters. Although I've been here forever, the desert is not beautiful to me. Flagstaff is nice, being in the mountains, not too much snow the last few years. I'm a cowgirl at heart so would head for Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho if I was able to. Maybe tape a map to the wall, shut your eyes, and throw a few darts. Go where your heart leads you. I know it's a difficult decision.

Thank you all for caring. It's a tough day for sure. Marg, your nanosecond brings to mind the movie "Ladyhawke". Two cursed lovers are together, but eternally apart. By day, she is a hawk. By night he becomes a wolf. In that split second before night becomes day, they are allowed a glimpse of each other. Quite a movie. Oh Gwen, your cup runneth over, just never with the good stuff. Is it possible to put a sock over Ally's foot or would that just be worse? There are just no easy answers.

Today is my daughter's birthday. She would be 56. In 11 days, she will die once again. After all these years, I still find it hard not to call and wish her a "Happy Birthday". Time still marches on oblivious to the pain.