Widow2015

Happy Belated Birthday Marty.  I hope you spent your special day doing something "Special".  Hugs, Dee🎂

Yes, Kay I noticed the Falls were frozen.  Hard to believe but after hearing about Portland's weather it was understandable.   Seems like Portland's winter weather is always worse than Tacoma's winters.  Dee

Quote

 

Haven't signed on for a while.  My vision issue makes it difficult to look at a computer screen somedays.  I have peeked in and kinda kept abreast of you all trying to survive in this unusual weather.  I live about 30 miles south of Seattle.  Our temperatures were in the low teens with mostly sunny skies for about four days and then warmed up to the balmy 40's.  This morning it is 36 degrees and raining.  My sister-in-law, lives in Portland, texted me Sunday evening to say they were 7 degrees and can't get out of the driveway.  Their driveway is pretty treacherous as it is in a hilly area.

I spoke to my daughter yesterday, she lives in Roseburg, OR.  They are enjoying beautiful sunny 50+ weather.  I guess it depends on how the wind blows.

4 hours ago, kayc said:

This is our Multnomah Falls!

Kay:  Beautiful Multnomah Falls!  My husband and I had stopped there one day years ago during warmer weather to see how beautiful it was.  Since it was so warm, and I was too tired to take the trek up to the bridge, we said we'd come back another day.  Sorrily, we never made it back, but every time I see mention of Multnomah Falls a tear runs down my face.  😢 

Kevin, Marg and Kay:  Do take care and hoping the weather in your area will soon be more bearable.  And, Karen, you take care and enjoy the warmth.  Dee

7 hours ago, kayc said:

  I hope this year is better for all of us.

Kay, Thank you for your New Year wishes.  I, also wish a Healthy Happy New Year to All on the Grief Forum.   Hoping there will be no more accidents, health issues and dog bite issues in 2024 and beyond.  Dee

1 hour ago, Margm said:

The years are nothing but a holding pattern.  

Marg:  Good choice of words!  My exact feelings.  Hugs to you as you wait for your surgery.  Dee

1 hour ago, iPraiseHim said:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, George.  And, a Healthy Happy  New Year.  Dee

Marg, Same to you and yours.  Keeping you and all on the Grief Forum best wishes and wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2024.  Dee

Kay:  As I'm sitting here resting my weary bones from a Christmas get-to-gether last night I came across a response from Marty regarding your awful dog attack from your neighbor's dog.  I can't imagine how awful that must have been for you. What a terrible thing to happen.  Please know you are in my good thoughts as you heal.  What kind of dog would be so aggressive?  I don't think you said Kodie was with you??  Warm hugs and somehow Have a Merry Christmas.  Dee 

Marg:  Karen's description of surgery is pretty much as I recall.  But, I do remember going into a small changing room.  It was a busy place with curtains dividing others in the room.  Once on the gurney it was over before I knew it probably thanks to the IV.   Besides the brightness improving I don't need my glasses so much.  Dee

21 hours ago, Margm said:

  I am so scared of the cataract surgery; just promise me I don't have to get naked. 

Marg:  To tell you the truth I don't remember if I changed into a hospital gown before my cataract surgery.  I do remember going into a changing room and taking something off but honestly can't recall.  My 82-year-old memory bank is overdrawn.   I just know it was amazing how bright things were afterwards, no discomfort or pain.  Keeping you in my thoughts. Dee

20 hours ago, KarenK said:

Still hate the dentures. I know I need to get used to them to leave the house and make a neurologist appt. about my vision. That will be my new years resolution. Got my little tree put up to try and add some brightness to this drab existence.

Karen:  At least you put up a little tree.🎄 That's a Good Thing.  I hope it helped brighten your Holiday Feeling.  It is difficult some days when we remember what the Holidays used to be.  

I am sorry your dentures aren't working out for you.  Hopefully within time you will get used to them.   I empathize with you and your vision problems.  Even though my cataract surgery was a success for me my macular degeneration in my left eye creates ongoing problems.  Now my eyes are extremely sensitive to light so much, some days I have to wear sunglasses inside my house.  In addition, my eyes will start tearing like I'm crying.  There's no pain just annoying.  I did mention it at my last eye injection appointment, but my retinal doctor didn't comment.  But it gives me another reason to not want to drive anymore.  My daughter said she has the same problem and the optometrist told her she had "dry eyes". 

21 hours ago, KarenK said:

This my 11th Xmas without my soulmate and 10th without my sweet daughter. I guess we never stop counting.....

 No, Karen we will never stop counting.  It's 8 lonely years without my Love.

Merry Christmas Karen to you and your family, and a "Healthy 2024".  Warmly, Dee 

On 12/20/2023 at 10:09 AM, Margm said:

Guess I do not feel too Christmy.  I think I made up that name.  At 81, I have made it where I do not have to remember some things.  We get so much mail that we need to ignore and some we cannot ignore.  

Marg:  I agree with you on "not remembering some things".  I have to push some things out of my memory, or I find myself drowning in sadness.  I envy your ability of being able to keep on going and helping your sister and family. 

The abundance of useless mail is a real pain.  I use the online post office service, "Informed Delivery" that scans what is put in my mailbox.  Unfortunately, my mailbox is not just outside my front door but down a gravel road.  I don't bother emptying mailbox unless I see something of importance is in the box.  I might not empty the box for a week or more.  It's usually just full of junk mail.  ☹️

I do hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Marg.  Warm Hugs, Dee     

On 12/20/2023 at 4:13 AM, kayc said:

Wishing you all a good Christmas!  Two weeks I was sick, just getting over it...

Thank you Kay for your Christmas Wishes.  It's good to see you are finally getting over Iris's "gift".  Two weeks is so long and sorry you had to forego your Holiday Gatherings.  Hoping you can soon be back to feeling as good as you always do, and you, Kodie and Panther will have a Merry Christmas. 

So far, I haven't decorated at all this year.  I did get a few Christmas cards mailed out and ordered a few gifts online.  Grandkids will get cash so they can do their own shopping.  Being from the South I love fruitcake for Christmas.  My son in law and l are the only ones who like fruitcake so ordered him one and bought myself a small box of "fruitcake petites".  

My son came over yesterday and we made homemade ChexMix, his request.  His childhood Christmas memories are so evident the older he gets.  He plans to make his Dad's recipe for "Tom and Jerry's" on Christmas Eve.  I dug out the recipe and seeing his Dad's handwriting on that recipe card brought tears.  I don't know if that pain will ever go away.🥲 Dee

3 hours ago, Margm said:

I know everyone says the cataracts are easy and results are great, but since last hospitalization 10 years ago, I am afraid of everything.  Still get my checkups and blood work done every four months.  Still good results with the starch diet being the only one this old radiated body can handle, and shots, not pills for the antibiotics, and another "knock on wood."

Marg:  Yes, I am one of those that said cataract surgery was a good thing for me.  But I also understand your concern about any kind of surgery.  Fortunately, I haven't experienced what you have had to go through with radiation treatments. (Knock on Wood!)   I shy away from doctors and instead choose to take a pill for my achy knees.  I've heard others say knee surgery doesn't always work so don't want to take the chance.  I go to my annual "well check" appointment that lasts 15 minutes and allows my primary care doctor to write my medications.   I think about what Gwen went through after her surgeries.  We each have to do what is best for ourselves.  

I loved your Grinch decoration and good to hear he's still there.  😁 Dee 

3 hours ago, kayc said:

The guy that does all of my home stuff, cleaning chimney, roof, gutters, cutting/limbing trees, track in front of carport, his name is Jack (we call him Jack of all trades) he had a horrific accident Saturday and is in the hospital,

 

kay: So sorry to read your friend Jack is in hospital.  His injuries will surely take some time to heal.  Hopefully his knowing all his good neighbors are helping out as he recovers will help with a speedy recovery.  

Your Thanksgiving sounded fun.  Glad you fit right in.  I have no doubt you can fit in anywhere. 😄 Your daughter's boyfriend sounds like a special person.

Your sweet Kodie escaped the dreaded cone!  I can imagine that sweet face showing his joy.  Makes me smile.  

I can imagine your disappointment as you recover from whatever it was Iris shared with you.  Your being the "Energizer Bunny" type personality, missing out on the Christmas activities at your Church can't be easy for you.  Hugs, Dee     

12 hours ago, kayc said:

Karen, are you there?  Dee?

Kay, Marge, Karen and all on Grief Forum:  I'm still here and I think all is as well as it can be.  My life is so uneventful I really have nothing to share.  I do read The Forum occasionally but don't sign on.  

Kay, I was sorry to see you had a bad "head bump" as you tried to retrieve a key for your neighbor.  I hope you're recovered by now.  And Karen sorry your intestinal issues are giving you discomfort.  That can be exhausting.   And Marge, your ability to keep on going is enviable.  I think I have lost any desire to get behind the wheel to drive.  You are a blessing to your sister.

Around Halloween I am pretty sure I had a strain of Covid.  My son started coughing about that time and within a day he was so sick he couldn't go to work.  A home test indicated he had Covid.  The next day I started coughing & every joint ached for about 4 days.  I just stayed in bed for 3 days with no desire to eat, just wanted to sleep.  Took about a month before any taste came back.  Seems to have changed my eating habits unless it's just part of being 82.

It's debatable whether I will drag out any Christmas decorations this year.  It's such an effort.  My son put some lights on my little house and a timer, so I don't have to remember to plug in the lights.  He is wanting me to make some homemade Chex Mix Snacks like I used to do when he was a kid.  I'd make lots and fill those big metal popcorn cans.  It's easy, just had to remind him I don't have the big roaster I used to use.  He's a nostalgic 50-year-old kid.  He doesn't want to let go of his past memories.  Dee

16 hours ago, kayc said:

My son got my daughter's brakes on last night, he said it's a good thing she got there when she did, nothing left of them and the squealer had fallen off is why she got no notice.

kayc: Glad all is well with the brakes on your daughter's car.  Hopefully you and yours will have a better week.  I think you all have earned some good luck.  Fingers crossed.  Dee 🙏🏼🤞☘️

16 hours ago, kayc said:

Here's his birthday smile!

kayc:  Love looking at that sweet smile.  You are so blessed.  Hugs, Dee

3 hours ago, Margm said:

Somehow Dee, I tried remembering what would take the place of computers if we threw them out the window.  We do not have the big front porches anymore waiting for the neighbors to come sit and visit.  In a lot of cases, we do not even know our neighbors.  That small town living is gone, along with a lot of other things.  

Marg:  I agree with you about there being nothing to replace computers, but I keep dreaming about those days where people were out and about in their neighborhood or sitting on a front porch visiting, sharing and laughing with one another.  My grandkids are growing up in a world totally foreign to when I grew up.  

3 hours ago, Margm said:

I took my son over to Walmart in the "city" because the meds make him afraid to drive. 

I am afraid to drive because of the other crazy drivers on the road.  A couple of weeks ago I found enough courage to meet a couple of ladies for lunch.  I was on a three-lane state road and was in the far-right lane travelling 45 mph - the posted speed limit.  On my left was a small work van.  I don't recall if there was a car in the far-left lane.   After a few miles I noticed a noisy motorcyclist behind the van on one of those "crotch rockets" - I think that's what they are called.  I could tell he was getting annoyed there was no way he could get around us because he kept racing the engine.  Just as I started to increase my speed and give him some room to get around the van, he zoomed by between the van and my car.  I couldn't believe it.  I related the story to my son, and he said that maneuver is actually legal in some states, but it is not legal in Washington state.   It has something to do with the type of engine these "crotch rockets" have.  Well, to me it gives me one more reason not to want to get on the road.  Dee  😱

kayc:  Happy Birthday to you and your sweet boy.  Am so sorry to read Melissa's story.  She and Finley are surely being tested with all this bad luck.  The apartment building must have some kind of insurance that would help meet some of replacement costs of ruined furniture, etc. for tenants??  Let us know when she is back home safe, wherever that is.  Keeping all of you in my prayers.  

Your laptop saga is more than I could content with.  Unfortunately, we are so connected to our computers that we can't just throw them out of the window and forget about them. Hugs, Dee.

22 hours ago, Margm said:

Good news for me and my sister.  No cancer showed on the PET scan, so she will take a chemo "shot" I think that was what it was, for awhile once a week.

Marg:  What wonderful news for your sister and you.   Dee

3 hours ago, kayc said:

I need cataract surgeries and learned it'll be at least $6,000 copays!  How are we supposed to come up with that!  Don't have supplemental, just Medicare Advantage (UHC).

kayc: What!!! That is insane.  I pray that is a mistake on whoever you spoke with in the Medicare Advantage UHC office. Dee

On 9/28/2023 at 9:49 PM, V. R. said:

Hello to everyone. I hope you are all well. I haven't been on the site much but I do check in every now and then, and I have been wondering about Gwen. She used to write everyday, so sad that she can't be traced. I hope with all my heart that she is OK. 

V.R. So happy to see you posted and you and your children are doing well.   I do apologize for being late in responding.  My old brain gets distracted, and I forget what I wanted to do.  Hugs, Dee   

On 9/28/2023 at 10:55 AM, kayc said:

So Lord knows what rehab/nursing home, she'd be in...

I remembered Gwen saying she volunteered at a Foss nursing home in Seattle so looked up the telephone number and asked if she was a resident.  Unfortunately, no she isn't.  🥲 Dee

Yes, Kay thank you for your efforts.  Dee