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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Fields of Gold
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dolphy
Lady of Perpetual Responsiblity
# 862
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Posted
Dearest Molly,
I must share with you a little saga that happened the night before last. Deciding to have an early night due to overtiredness, we left Jessie asleep on the sofa and Brandy asleep in his bed in the kitchen. Around 3am I heard Brandy go out (he has a cat flap), I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. About two hours later there was a bit of a commotion downstairs that woke Jack and myself up. It went something like this:
ARWOOF, ARRRWWOOOF
Meeeeeeooowwwwwww GRRRRRRRR
AAAAARRRRwoof, Arrrrowwwwfffffffff
Meeeee MEEEEE OWWWWWWWW
And so it went on until I finally decided to go downstairs and see what Jessie and Brandy were up to! Brandy was lying on the kitchen work top with his paw on the microwave. Jessie was lying on the kitchen floor looking at him. Nothing new there, so I thought, so I told them to behave and I went back to bed. Around 6am Jessie came up into the bedroom and started on again... translates something like this:
Mum, Mum... Mummeeeeeee
Mummy come see...
Mummy come seee
I ignored her and Jack grunted at her. I told Jessie to go away until the alarm went off. But no... she was staying...
Mummmeeeeeee Muuummmeeeee
come and seeeee.
So it went on until the alarm went off. I got out of bed, dressed and went downstairs a little grumpy that I had not had a peaceful night. Brandy was lying full length by the microwave with both his paws under it. As soon as he saw me he gave Jessie what I read as a real 'look' and he sat up and looked as innocent as he could. Jack came downstairs to see what had been going on. I said 'not sure but he had his paws under the microwave'. We both looked at each other as the tiny little sound of 'Squeak' came from the underneath of the microwave. Brandy was banished from the kitchen and armed with a container we lifted up the microwave and caught a tiny little very scared field mouse - all in one piece I have to say! I set the mouse free. Brandy was then let back into the kitchen, went straight into his bed and sulked - the look he gave Jessie for the next ten minutes was as if to say 'Thanks for telling'.
I swear that was what Jessie was trying to tell us!!!
Bless you Molly,
With all our love and hugs,
The Dolphy Clan. xxx
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Looking forward to my rock moving closer again.
Posts: 15134 | From: my camper van | Registered: Jul 2001
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Clíona
Shipmate
# 2035
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Posted
Dear Molly,
My prayers are with you also, and I'm asked to pass on love and prayers from Olorin too, who doesn't have Ship access at the moment.
Le gra agus beannacht,
Cliona
X
Dear God, hold Molly close in your arms and give her comfort and rest, and a few extra rabbits.
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Starting (yet) again...
Posts: 1262 | From: Back in Dublin | Registered: Dec 2001
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Fudge
Pictish free citizen
# 425
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Posted
Ah Molly, I can imagine that nurses make bad patients, as my friend Jo, was in nursing training while having terrible asthma, which she still has, and it was quite embarrassing for her to be seeing her nursing tutors in the ward! What an excuse for not doing your homework! Sorry, I was in hospital!
Well, I hope that Dr Reilly does speak to them and reminds them that it is not a good idea to treat fellow professionals as if they are ignorant of the facts!
Anyway, news from wet and windy Aberdeen. I was deprived of my Ralph McTell concert on Tuesday as this well-known folk singer was prevented from reaching the Granite city by floods and landslides literally!
I had heard that he was going to be live on Tom Morton's show on Radio Scotland at lunchtime, and I thought, hey, if he's in Glasgow, how's he going to get to Aberdeen in this weather?
But nevertheless, I made the mad journey to the bus stop - having to put on the green wellies and waterproof trousers and wade through a 2ft deep flood at the bottom of our road - and down to the venue, whereupon they said the concert was cancelled!! So I repaired to a nearby hostelry before getting the bus back up the road, walked back through the floods, where the water came up over my boots, and the waterproofs did not prove watertight when I got in the door!
Then yesterday it took 15 mins to defrost the car to go to work, and last night it was raining again!! The only people that are happy are the skiers at the Lecht, because snow is baling down there!
This, Moll, is typical Scottish winter weather! But its interesting you mention your trees, I too have trees outside the window of my house, and most of them are still green! They are elms, sycamores and rowan. I also notice that the trees across from the bus stop (only take the car this week cos it is college hols and the car park is empty!) are horse-chestnuts! There are a fine crop of conkers appearing now, and its great!
You should get Marian to bring in some lovely golden leaves for you! I was just drooling over some autumn pictures of Jasper in Canada and they had golden-turned maple leaves on their photos.
So the weather for the next 300 years according to the report in the London Independent today is rain, rain, rain, then a dry spell of 3,000 years, so you won't be missing out ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) !
I think the Creator may have something to say on this score! ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) Scientists!
Prayers for you in making your decision about the chemo... ![[Heart]](graemlins/heartpump.gif)
p.s. have to use the cool new smilies -
this is what I think of the weather reports ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
and this is what I think about some of our students ![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
much love
Fudge
[who often rants on friends' behalves at the sound of injustice]
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Stay me flagons ... or maybe tappit hens.
Posts: 347 | From: Aberdeen | Registered: Jun 2001
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
Molly dearest, may your heart know God's guidance as you face making such a difficult decision. Much love, and many, many prayers from all the Beethoven clan.
Pictures of Clover and Comfrey are ready to be sent to you. My colleague's computer is free at the moment, so I shall just go and scan in the other 2 pictures for you, then I can post them all this afternoon. Clover is no longer quite as fluffy as she was when the photo was taken, but Comfrey is still very fluffy. And yes, they both still have the long fur around their faces, since they're Lionheads ![[Smile]](smile.gif) Vicious ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif) , good at damaging things that need damaging, but very cute and (becoming) rather friendly too!
Right - time to go and use the scanner ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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chukovsky
Ship's toddler
# 116
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Posted
Dear Molly,
I had a bit of a shock yesterday. I got an email - necessarily short - telling me that a colleague is terminally ill with cancer. This is a colleague who I have never met but there are three, maybe four, people in the world who work on one of the topics I work on (language acquisition in Bantu languages, the group of languages which is spoken in most of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa) and she is one of them. I had applied for a grant to do work on this and she was one of the named referees, and we had had many (I have to say, quite lively) chats about my application and my work in general. She teaches at Wits university in South Africa.
It is hard to know what to think about this but it is a bit of a blow. Apparently it is a matter of weeks. Somehow it seems even more wrong that two people who I know quite well, despite having never met, should be in the same stage of the same illness at the same time, across the world from each other.
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This space left intentionally blank. Do not write on both sides of the paper at once.
Posts: 6842 | From: somewhere else | Registered: May 2001
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Spong
Ship's coffee grinder
# 1518
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Posted
Again, been lurking on this thread without posting for all the above reasons. May God give you guidance, and quietness of mind when you have decided. And prayers also for all those suporting you.
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Spong
The needs of our neighbours are the needs of the whole human family. Let's respond just as we do when our immediate family is in need or trouble. Rowan Williams
Posts: 2173 | From: South-East UK | Registered: Oct 2001
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Dear Shipmates, dear Friends, thank you from my heart for your prayers.
Flev, Lyra, and Spo-O-o-ng, I have long felt many people were reading this thread and praying for me who had not posted. So you and I have met, and now I know your names!
Fudge, I am sorry for the mishap of lost data, and sorry for your disappointment in not hearing a concert to which you had been looking forward. To have your waterproofs reveal themselves as, not, in fact, waterproof must have been the straw that would have made someone else shriek imprecations and resolve to sacrifice an American tourist to the old gods at the next opportunity!
Ma jolie Janine, I continue to pray for Jane. Thanks for the news of the compilation tape! I am really looking forward to it. If it is to include secular music as well, could I request some Cajun songs? I do not know French, much less Louisiana French, but I love the music. Thanks also for the description of the Tallow trees. They sound like fit trees for the birds of Paradise to sit in, the ones that have a hundred feathers, and for every feather, a hundred songs. I love scarlet leaves, and I know your Swamp Maples must also be beautiful.
I loved the description of Jessie's tattling on Brandy, and Brandy's reaction. Here he was doing his bit to provide, and no one appreciates him! What is a poor hard-working feline family man to do?
I will look forward to the rabbit photos, dear Beethoven! Alice and George need company on my bulletin board. My love to Mr B, Baby B, and your delightful self.
Cliona, mo stor geal, thank you for your love and prayers, and for passing on Olorin's support. I hope your teaching is going well at work. I hope. also, Olorin's new job is a good fit for him.
Dear physicians Welsh Dragon and Multipara, your prayers and support mean very much. I saw a picture of you at a meet, dear Dragon, and I want you to know how I admired your hair and skin. A true black Celt..
Chukovsky, my heart is with you in the prospect of losing such a person. May God bless and help your friend.
Dear ones all, I decided to refuse the projected chemotherapy. I asked Doctor Reilly if he would let me have the current drugs. Although they are not shrinking the tumors, they seem to be preventing tumor growth, and I can tolerate them. I will probably receive the last two treatments of the originally planned five. The hope is to get me through Christmas in reasonable shape. Then I will be treated by Hospice.
I want to tell all of my shipmates why I made this decision. I know many will find it incomprehensible. Indeed, I believe Doctor Reilly was disappointed, although he said I had made the right decision for me.
On Wednesday, going in to the doctor, I had a feeling that the chemotheraphy was not working. I was a little sad, but I was much more relieved to think I would not have to undergo the side effects again. I remembered this relief, and the profound feeling that I had: "the only way out is through", in making my decision. To undergo further and chancier therapy is not finding the way out, because it is not going through. It would be to insist on losing myself in a maze when the clue to leaving has already been given.
I used the internet to read about the proposed drugs. The more I read, the more I realized I would be absolutely miserable. I would be giving up my last "good" time in the hope of better times. If there were no better times, this would be for nothing. My mother has a great longing for one last holiday season together. If I were on this drug regimen, I would not be able to give her and my father a happy memory. My mouth would very likely be too sore to let me eat, my stomach would likely be in revolt at the smell of my mother's cooking, there would be an increased risk of falls and terrified nights for my parents, and the chemo-induced weariness would not let me share in the special rituals of Christmas. I would also be isolated due to a severely depressed immune system. I would not be able to attend an Eastern Star meeting, not be able to ride in a wheelchair to look at the Christmas decorations downtown, not be able to have a visit from Mahalia.
It may justly be asserted that these severe discomforts and privations might lead to my living longer and having some months of much greater comfort. This is very true. But I still must die, whether now or later. I feel, day to day, as though some store of resilience and ability to cope is slowly being drained, some secret reserve of strength is being consumed. This share of resilience and strength is, under God's Providence, the gift that enables me to enjoy my days and cope with the little miseries that are mine. For instance, I am aware of every breath; my easiest breath now is one I would have felt to be slightly labored a year ago.
The proposed regimen would have eaten ravenously of my remaining strength and resiliency. The "better" months, the "good quality of life" months I would be gambling to get would not, I felt, be able to replenish them. When the inevitable, and final, decline came, I would not have these invaluable reserves. I am not such a believer in my wonderfulness that I think I can make a good death without them. I believe they are God's gift to help me to "fight bravely, die gallantly", as Robert Heinlein once specified an adult human being should do.
While I am here, I remain your devoted shipmate. I do not know how long I will be aboard, but let us enjoy the weather we have, watching the sails and rejoicing in the moment out of all time that we all are voyaging together.
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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dolphy
Lady of Perpetual Responsiblity
# 862
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Posted
My dearest Molly,
I thank you for your honesty.
I thank God for the times we have shared both on the Ship and on MSN... and I thank God for the time we still have to share.
Love always,
Dolphy and the gang!
xxx
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Looking forward to my rock moving closer again.
Posts: 15134 | From: my camper van | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Molly, for my own part I agree with your decision. I know it wasn't made lightly, but these things never are. When it comes down to it, it is about quality of life and if you have a limited amount of time you have to make the best of it. I think I'd probably make the same choice. The other choice might have led to increased comfort. But a 20-30 percent chance means that it is 70-80 percent against, and considering all the attendant unpleasantness, I think you have made the right choice for yourself.
All I ask, and I am sure that others will agree with this, is that you put yourself first. We love to hear from you and read your postings. But please, if it becomes an effort, take what time you need to rest. The last thing any of us would want is for you to feel guilty that you haven't posted for a while or responded to emails or so on. You are dispensed, with love, from any such obligation.
Meanwhile, we shall continue to enjoy your company, and be glad that we don't have to part just yet.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
Molly, I think you made the right decision, but I mourn the situation that gave rise to it. There is no point in buying extra time if that time will be full of physical misery.
I am praying that you will have the kind of Christmas you and your parents want.
All my love,
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Janine
The Endless Simmer
# 3337
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Posted
No, sweetie, not a French bit on the tape.
But, that is easily remedied, Cher (pronouced hereabouts as "Shah", with the 'a' as in "apple"). There will be a French one in the "pipeline" right behind the comedy one.
My husband grew up here - he was born in Lake Charles. South Louisiana between there & here (southwest of New Orleans) is about as Cajun as you can get... frontier French, some words and phrases frozen in time for 200 years or more...
Yet, even though he's from here, he can't get into the Cajun music. It always sounds so sad to him, and he knows even fewer French words than I do. Hates opera for the same reason, wants to be sung at in English! Poor man, our eldest daughter is a music education major with opera-quality lungs! What he hears around the house!
Well, he's right, the older the Cajun music is, the more of a lament it sometimes is. The people were exiled, weren't they?
But, everyone needs a good ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif) sometimes, so I like it that way.
My baby sister is the director of the Longfellow/Evangeline museum in St. Martinville, La., a National Park site dedicated to the Cajun and Creole influences, the slaves and carpetbaggers and Indians and Chinese and Spanish and... well, it's a rich heritage, I'll tell ya. If I can't dig up some good French stuff, I know she can.
Note to All: I appreciate this thread so much, and I'm exceedingly glad to read the Saga of Miss Molly, but I thank her as well for the forum her thread provides to hear about some things that really matter in all your lives. She's doing us all such a service! ![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif)
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I'm a Fundagelical Evangimentalist. What are you?
Take Me Home * My Heart * An hour with Rich Mullins *
Posts: 13788 | From: Below the Bible Belt | Registered: Sep 2002
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Lady A
Narnian Lady
# 3126
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Posted
Dear Miss Molly,
I read a book on the Navaho BlessingWay and here is their prayer:
"Beauty shall be in front of me, beauty shall be in the back, beauty shall be below me, above me, all around me." On top of that you say about yourself, "I am everlasting, I may have an everlasting life. I may live on, and lead an everlasting life with beauty."
May you walk with beauty, may you walk the blessingway on everlasting paths in fields of gold....
Posts: 2545 | From: The Lion's Mane, Narnia | Registered: Aug 2002
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Duo Seraphim*
Sea lawyer
# 3251
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Posted
It was a warm, sunny Sydney spring day on Sunday and I wondered what your decision had been. I was wandering past a wonderful stand of jacaranda trees, in glorious full flower with their tender lavender bells and intoxicating honey scent.
There used to be a custom at one of the Sydney maternity hospitals (multipara would know which one) of giving the parents of each new baby a small jacaranda tree to plant. The tree became popular and the city now has a wonderful collection of mature jacarandas to perfume the air every November.
I have not met you personally, but you have such a capacity for drawing pleasure from small things as well as from great ones. It's a God-given gift and a strength as well as comfort. Yours was a strong decision and I think the right one for you.
Have the best Christmas. Enjoy it and let your family enjoy you.
![[Love]](graemlins/love.gif) and prayers
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2^8, eight bits to a byte
Posts: 3967 | From: Sydney Australia | Registered: Aug 2002
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Rowen
Shipmate
# 1194
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Posted
Dear Molly, it is a glorious autumn in Ohio, and at long last am with my dear sister and her family. My great-niece is a delight; the family here are welcoming...
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
God is with you.
love Rowena
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"May I live this day… compassionate of heart" (John O’Donoghue)...
Posts: 4897 | From: Somewhere cold in Victoria, Australia | Registered: Aug 2001
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Dear Shipmates, thank you all for your support, your love, and your prayers. Please know my love and prayers are with all of you.
I have much to look forward to this week. Tomorrow afternoon, Jennifer and Dwight (the people with whom I lived for the last few years) are coming to visit, bringing knickknacks and books for me to sort through, and my darling Mahalia. I shall be sleeping with a small towel in my bed tonight, to imbue it with my aroma, as Jennifer tells me they recently cleaned the duvet in my room, and Mahalia feels bereft!
My parents and sister will be here Wednesday. They had an excellent but exhausting time in the South at my father's military reunion and then touring some sites connected with family history. My mother came home with respiratory problems, and I was much afraid she had bronchitis again, but my sister assures me she is improving daily.
This coming weekend, William, Jennifer and Dwight's son, will be coming with his digital video camera, to get a movie of me receiving a package from some friends. It has been in Salt Lake City since last Wednesday, but the proviso was I might not have it until means were found to make a record of its reception. I may add that St Sebastian has been very secretive; no winkling has been able to pry any information loose as to the character of the present. In fact, he has been teasing me that it is, in fact, a very large hamster ball, designed to provide me with exercise! I asked if there were treats in the ball, but he says I must provide my own. Hrrmph!
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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Smudgie
Ship's Barnacle
# 2716
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Posted
Glad to know you're going to get some exercise at last, Molly, instead of just running rings round poor St Seb (Not that I read this thread, of course!)
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Miss you, Erin.
Posts: 14382 | From: Under the duvet | Registered: Apr 2002
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Clíona
Shipmate
# 2035
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Posted
Dear Molly,
All my love. I am praying for a Happy Christmas for you with your family.
God bless you all,
Cliona
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Starting (yet) again...
Posts: 1262 | From: Back in Dublin | Registered: Dec 2001
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dolphy
Lady of Perpetual Responsiblity
# 862
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Posted
Dearest Dame Molly
Thank you for having a little chat with Brandy. He was sitting on the top of your armchair last night while Jessie was curled up on the seat of the chair by your side. Brandy must have listened to your talk about his 'male' role since we had three pressies this morning: One worm (alive), one snail (alive) and one slug (alive) ![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif) Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell him that although these were kindly thought out and hunted gifts, I would prefer if he left them in the garden. I will not admit that Jessie was a little excited by the snail!!!
Our thanks,
The Dolphy duo. xxx
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Looking forward to my rock moving closer again.
Posts: 15134 | From: my camper van | Registered: Jul 2001
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Fudge
Pictish free citizen
# 425
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Posted
Dear Moll,
I kinda guessed you'd make the decision you have, I prayed God would make it totally clear to you, and it looks like He has.
We all pray a wonderful fairytale Christmas for you and your family.
as for my software, at least it works at home! I talked to the techies here and they're investigating, and it gets me out of going to the evening class, ha ha! So I am quite pleased about it, and the concert cancellation wasn't too much of a bother, and I actually enjoyed wading through the water, because I knew I was only 2 minutes from home, and being wet only lasted that long, unlike in August when I was mega-miserable after being dragged up a mountain by a very un-helpful un-sympathetic bunch of 40-somethings who were tons fitter than me.
Wading about in a puddle was "pAAAAAAArty"! ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
Gee have you noticed how weird the smilies are getting? ![[Two face]](graemlins/scot_twoface.gif)
Realised on Sunday night - God really doesn't want us to do ANYTHING to earn our salvation, He just is nuts about us You lucky dear, you will be there before us all, and my brother is there already too.
All the best, dear Shipmate,
and the best xmas ever to you
luv
FJ
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Stay me flagons ... or maybe tappit hens.
Posts: 347 | From: Aberdeen | Registered: Jun 2001
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
dear miss molly, i though i'm saddened to hear your decision, i think it was the right one. as i said before, my fathers decline with the alzheimers and his death taught me that there are worse things than death. one time i had stayed on at college for a week or so after classes were officially over, and it was the only time during my college career that i ended up horrifically homesick. when dad came to pick me up and help me pack up my room so i could go home,i told him how much i'd wanted to go home. he said that one thing he'd learned over his life was to always leave somewhere just a little bit before you think you want to. he ment parties and things, but i think it's applicable to the larger situation as well.
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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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ChrisT
One of the Good Guys™
# 62
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Posted
Miss Molly, you are an inspiration to many people, and a source of constant joy and encouragement on this Ship. I really don't know what to say, but I am imagining your smile lighting up the room, just as it lights up every life that you touch. May God keep you safe in his hand, and lead you through fields of grace.
((Molly))
ChrisT
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Firmly on dry land
Posts: 6489 | From: Here, there and everywhere | Registered: May 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
miss Molly I don't think you have at all made the wrong decision, because only you can know the right one for you.
On Friday at Choirpractice I sang a hymn for you. ![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif) Although you couldn't hear it, I hope it helped.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Bon soir from my time zone, dear shipmates.
Lady A, thank you for reminding me of the Navajo prayer, since I will soon I hope, be walking in the house with walls of sky.
Rowen, I am so glad to hear you are enjoying your time in Canada, and being with your great-niece. Nieces are so special. I hope your journey home continues to go well, and that your father and sister are well when you arrive.
Dear Sprite of Oxford, thank you for the charming picture you sent a few days ago. I had not looked at my box for awhile, and it was a real treat to see the photo.
Janine, ma cher, thank you for indulging me. I remember remarking to my father many years ago that all our homemade music was sad! There is Ozarkian music that is satirical or meant to be funny, but there is no really happy music. Most of it is about various horrible deaths, parents left behind and their children hearing of their deaths years later (and their remorse), faithless wives, and loneliness. The hymns are all about the heaven that will infinitely outweigh this misery, and how to arrange to go there! (For example, there is a modern song that is perfectly in this genre: "The first step to heaven is down on your knees.") So I can well believe that the Cajun songs are sad. I remember hearing one called "La Louisiane", which I am sure must be one of those homesick and far from home ones, but I just enjoyed it so much all the same.
It was a quiet day in Lake Wobegon West, my home. I rose fairly early, showered and made my bed, then sat down to catch my breath. Conveniently, my computer chair is at the correct distance from my bed and bath to provide a perch for this activity! Whilst I am in my chair, there is nothing more natural than to check on the prior watch's activities. So I did this, and chatted on msn to a few people who could not escape before I hailed them. Then, being British and polite, they were doomed!
The last unfortunate shipmate finally wriggled free, and I walked in to the living room, again finding a chair at a convenient distance. This one is my favorite easy chair, which rocks and even has a footstool that will rock with it. I sat down to catch my breath. I am really thinking of investing in a leash for my breath, as it escapes me so often. Perhaps some kind of net. too, to scoop it back into my lungs!
The chair is just perfect in terms of comfort, the furniture equivalent of the arms of Morpheus, and I fell asleep without realizing it. I awoke some hours later, just in time for my friend Marian's visit. She has a set of keys, and the code number for the security system downstairs, so the first I usually know about her being here is her key in the lock. She never has to worry about finding me! I am at the end of the oxygen tubing.
She had been grocery shopping for me, and had finally succeeded in locating a kind of pastry I wanted: Swenhardt's Bear Claws, which I will enjoy with cold milk as a bedtime snack. She very kindly made me two sandwiches while she was here as well.
We talked about her day in the infection control department. It was Monday, and so a busy shift, with needle sticks to examine, record, and for which to administer prophylaxis, and with tuberculosis mask fittings for new staff on the floors that take T.B. cases. (The staff have to be taught how to fit the mask onto the face properly to protect themselves in caring for these patients.
Tomorrow, the physicians are having a meeting. Part of the agenda will be a visit by the "shot patrol" to give flu shots. Marian is not looking forward to this. She says doctors are far and away the worst people to whom to administer injections. They are nervous, and apt to be afraid of pain, according to her.
After she left, I went on line to talk to Timothy, and receive an account of last week's convention and awards ceremony. This was most interesting, especially the mad scientist themed party, with fog and smoke generators and a machine that apparently arced electricity between two eight foot rods. For those of you who may be interested in Timothy's taste in masks, he wore a feathered one!
I have cleaned up a bit of outstanding email as well. I appreciate hearing from people, and I appreciate still more people's patience in awaiting responses from me. I have my times of energy, and I am gradually learning to know when they are likely to be and schedule my tasks for them.
Now I must bid you all farewell and wish you all a fair wind on your watch, or a comfy snooze in your hammock!
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
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duchess
Ship's Blue Blooded Lady
# 2764
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Posted
Hey Fair Maiden Molly,
May God bless the time you have left on earth with much joy and peace as only He can bring. Lord please lift her up and have her feel at all times your wonderful love and mercy.
I understand why you made your decision and it makes perfect sense.
I just got back from my sister's wedding in Lacey (near Olympia, south of Seattle). She is quite into theater and there was a belly dancer, juggler...unicycle. My niece and nephews were quite impressed, they could not sit down the whole time. My littlest nephew decided to moonwalk, a little 5 year old dance, while his aunt sang a song with 2 other lovely ladies. It was some old chorus song and it was so lovely it made me cry.
My sister and her husband danced to Tom Leher's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" since it was the song that he was singing when they first met.
I did feel sunrise sunset as you say...I am older than my sister and she is married now!
I wanted to ask you, did you ever see Oh Brother Art Thou? (the movie with George Clooney?) I thought of you, that you would like it. I went out and bought the soundtrack. I really like "Man of Sorrows".
Anyway, you are always in my prayers.
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♬♭ We're setting sail to the place on the map from which nobody has ever returned ♫♪♮
Ship of Fools-World Party
Posts: 11197 | From: Do you know the way? | Registered: May 2002
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Janine
The Endless Simmer
# 3337
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Posted
How odd, I just this a.m. mentioned "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" to a shipmate via email.
Considering Molly's Ozarkian reference, you bet she'd like "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", or whatever the name is. As well as that (Holy) ghostly song used in the scene where the three travelers are distracted by an entire church congregation, dressed in white, floating dreamily through the forest on their way down to the river to be baptized.
I don't post very often, and I've just barely hoisted myself above "apprentice" level, so I mightn't be missed... but still I thought I'd courteously let folks know I'm going on a "computer fast" for the next few days. I have several projects simmering, not the least of which is the music-related stuff for (mostly) Molly.
So, y'all pray for me, that my "busy-ness" might not hinder my walk with God. I hope to "see" you all soon, when I check back in on sweetest Molly. Email me if you need me for anything.
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I'm a Fundagelical Evangimentalist. What are you?
Take Me Home * My Heart * An hour with Rich Mullins *
Posts: 13788 | From: Below the Bible Belt | Registered: Sep 2002
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Dear friends, a warm embrace to you all from me. The USA shipmates are struggling through their workday, the UK and continental shipmates have finished supper and are wondering if going to bed now will ruin their credentials as cool, happening people, and the Oz shipmates are in dreamland, hopefully not in the section populated by nightkangaroos! God bless them all.
Chastmaster, I don't think I have ever thanked you enough for all the beating hearts and loving phone calls. So, herewith, a big THANK YOU. I have been wondering why I keep thinking I know you. The other day it came to me; your voice pitch and sentence patterning are the twins of my dear nephew's speech characteristics! So, two nice guys, one in Washington DC and one in Colorado, are helping hold the fort for gentleness.
Your Grace, I am glad the wedding went well. I would have loved to see the five year old dance. I smiled to read about "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park", as I have the "Best of Tom Lehrer". Where was the groom singing this immortal piece when the bride met him? Thank you for you loving prayer. I have never seen the movie you mention, but I have the sound track, and enjoy that.
Chorister, I see I neglected to thank you for your singing for me. May I know what hymn you chose?
Ma cher Janine, I received your tape yesterday, with great glee. Thank you and your friends so much. I do not watch the news any more, so I did not know about the flooding. Bless all of you as you attempt to help the victims, and bless the victims with courage and resilience. Indeed, I did already know the song from the scene you mention, but I knew it with the words "Let's go down to the valley to pray." An amusing sidenote is that my friend Dwight received the "O Brother" soundtrack for Christmas last year. He was surprised when I said I knew some of the songs as he thought they had all been composed especially for the movie! He may be excused, however, having grown up a Seventh Day Adventist in North Dakota (not a hotbed of southern mountain singing).
In the interests of truth, I must report I was not brave yesterday. I received a phone call from the woman processing my Railroad Retirement claim. I had more or less forgotten all about this, once my social security was approved, as it will only come into play when I am qualified to receive disability pay in February. I had submitted the forms back in late August. Now she was telling me there were "big holes" in the documentation. The effort to fill the holes would be nothing for a well person: a trip to the instacare where I was initially seen to authorize a release of their medical records, a trip to the director's office here in the building to copy the surgeon's report. one more entry regarding my employment history. However, at the moment I was talking to her, she might as well have been asking me to run a race. The effort of going to the director's office is truly major. Riding in a car, and walking even a short distance into a building makes me short of breath for ten minutes or so, and wears me out for the next hour. So, I burst into tears. I really had fought to get all the paperwork done, and had thought everything was arranged and I did not have to worry about finding energy and concentration for it any more. Now there was still more to do, and I felt, judging by my experience with social security that even this would not be the last. It seemed there would always be one more piece of paper! I told the woman, who was upset that she had made me cry, and kept saying, "I really want to help you", that I knew this was not her fault, but that I really did not see how it would benefit me to go through any more, as I would be dead before any money was paid out. We agreed, finally, that I would call her back to make an appointment for the phone interview she had also to do, if and when I felt able to answer questions, obtain the records and send them, etc.
Of course, I will have to do as I am asked, because if I don't, they may use this to deny me the benefits I am already receiving under the other retirement system. So, I have bucked up, and made arrangements to go to the instacare and to copy the documents she is asking for. I called her office this morning, but she is not in, so I must call tomorrow to set up an appointment.
I was talking to a friend today, who is also an invalid. She and I had not been in touch very often until my illness, but now we try to call every few weeks. She has chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, both poorly understood and limiting diseases. as well as an extreme susceptibility to bronchitis, which pretty much keeps her housebound at this time of year. She asked me if I was ever lonely. I could truthfully tell her I never am, thanks to my dear shipmates.
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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ChastMastr
Shipmate
# 716
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Posted
![[Embarrassed]](redface2.gif) blush
hug
A music CD is on its way, by the way...
Drat! No hamster icons!
Posts: 14068 | From: Clearwater, Florida | Registered: Jul 2001
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Scot
Deck hand
# 2095
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Posted
Miss Molly, couldn't the medical records release form be handled by mail? Or by someone to whom you could assign power of attorney?
scot
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“Here, we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 9515 | From: Southern California | Registered: Jan 2002
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Lady A
Narnian Lady
# 3126
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Posted
Dear Miss Molly,
Came home today to find my green lawn covered with brilliant red leaves that had blown off my vine maples today. Had to kick through a sidewalk full of leaves, all crinkley and crunchy. I must enjoy these things, they are such a fragment of life, but a whole slice of joy!
Love to you,
Lady A
Posts: 2545 | From: The Lion's Mane, Narnia | Registered: Aug 2002
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duchess
Ship's Blue Blooded Lady
# 2764
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Posted
quote:
Where was the groom singing this immortal piece when the bride met him?
In Holland...my sister worked in Europe for 3 years. She went to a theater group (she loves theater...and sings quite wonderfully)..her future husband was walking around singing that Tom Lehrer song.
She thought "Wow, people in Holland know Tom Leher?"
It was like fate since my father drove all of us crazy growing up playing Tom Leher over and over again.
Posts: 11197 | From: Do you know the way? | Registered: May 2002
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
Miss Molly, 'Fields of Gold' is now permanently linked to thoughts of you whenever I hear it. A nice reminder to pray!
Must tackle my in-tray, but I await further posts on my favourite thread with interest.
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Dear shipmates, dear friends, my apologies for not posting yesterday. I was just being extremely lazy, and not prioritizing as I should. Thank you all for your continued concern and prayers.
I look forward very much to the CD, dear Chastmaster. Please, no more blushes when people remark on your niceness (is that a word) and gentleness; they are only speaking the truth.
Lady A, I am glad another grownup likes to walk through leaves. I love the dry sound, and the earthy smell. About 26 years ago, we had a winter here when it never snowed. The leaves remained on the ground for a long time. At the time, I used to walk to work at about 11 P.M.; one of the great delights of walking in the night was the ghostly colored leaves under my feet, their rustle and their earthy smell. I am delightedly imagining you and the crunchy red leaves! May your slice of life's pizza contain many more such wonderful toppings.
Scot, I did work out a way to handle the situation. When I called yesterday to set up my appointment, I reviewed with the case worker all she wanted in the way of documentation, to make sure there would be no further surprises. In talking to her, I discovered that a copy of the surgeon's report on my operation, which I could easily provide, would not be enough. She also needed the account of my visit to his office to have the sutures out! I thought, this will never end. She will have me chasing all over town. Providentially, I remembered that when I was filling out the social security forms, the case worker told me, you can either sign a form that permits us to pursue your medical records, or you can obtain them yourself, which will expedite the claim. I chose to obtain them myself. It was not difficult, since Dr Reilly had all that Social Security required in the way of records, and I had to visit his office anyway. I asked the Railroad Retirement worker if she could not send me a form to sign allowing her to pursue my records, and she readily agreed. Whew! An additional "hole" that she now identified was an account of my railroad employment. I had not written an account, because the vocational history form only asked for fifteen years of employment history, and I ceased being employed by the railroad in 1985. I was surprised to be asked, as I had assumed that the Board had all my employment records, and as I told her, my disability has nothing to do with that job! However, I still must write an account with dates, and job duties performed. All of this can be mailed, however. I am grateful to you, Scot, for your suggestion, as I believe it jogged my memory to inquire about a form!
Your Grace, I see your family is just as interesting as you are. Hurrah for you all.
Gill H, I see your pansy every day, as it hangs on my prayer wall. It reminds me of your prayers and love, and the love of my shipmates. It grows in beauty and significance every day.
And now the news...
My father will not be able to come to visit me, as it turns out his appointment for his cancer treatment is within the projected dates. He is a seven year survivor of prostate cancer that had metastasized to his spine. We are grateful that he was chosen for an experimental protocol that has arrested the progress of the disease.
My mother and sister had planned to be here Wednesday, but the weather has held them up. There has not been a favorable day in between storms. The newest projected arrival time is tomorrow evening. I will know if this is likely by watching the weather out my window this evening. If a rain storm passes through here, it will bring snow to them, and a further delay. I am grateful for the delay, though, as it permits my mother to continue to recover from a sinus infection. It is very hard on her to travel; she becomes ill every time! The sinus infection is from her trip to my father's reunion. (Of course, any hints on my part that she might delay seeing me a month or so fall on deaf ears.)
I continue to watch the park with interest. Last weekend, on Saturday morning, there were three people that entertained me. A man got out of his car, walked onto the little footbridge over Millcreek, and stood looking into the creek bottom. I can only suppose he shares my interest in the ducks and geese. After he finished his inspection, he got back in his car and drove away. Then there was a man with a metal detector, who strode purposefully into the park and stopped at a planned area. I don't know if he is systematically checking the park for lost treasures, and the area he stopped at was the next on his grid, or what, but it certainly looked planned. He used his device, and then did some excavation. I could not see what he found, but I hope it repaid the labor of putting the earth back. Finally, there was a young man in his prime, walking briskly through the park, enjoying the day and his strength and energy. I was so glad for him.
I had an email from a friend's mother the other day. She is a breast cancer survivor, a loving person, and a committed Christian. I appreciate her concern and prayers. I was deeply disturbed, however, by her expressed belief that her cancer was to humble her and make her a true Christian, to "knock her to her knees at the Cross", if I remember her phraseology correctly.
I do not and cannot believe God sends suffering. I believe he created a world in which we might be free to become his children. We are also free to hurt each other, to damage our world, and to do things that set harmful forces in play. I believe my cancer is probably the result of a virus. As a nurse, I worked in an infection-dense environment for years; it was an occupational hazard, just as working around whizzing bullets, etc., might be for a soldier. I think the virus simply slipped by my defenses. The virus might be one we have bred by changing our environment, or by how we have used various drugs. It is not God's will. He did not give me cancer. His will is for me to love and serve him here, and to enjoy him forever. I live in a free world, and I make my contribution to its beauties and its dangers. I have this disease which will end my life as a result. God's will is for me to come through this as his daughter. He sustains me every moment and gives me rich blessings of enjoyment and love. These amazing gifts bring me to kneel at the cross, not knocked to my knees by a punitive divinity, but drawn by awe and love for a God who loves me so, loves me more than I can imagine or receive. The love I am able to receive now is enlarging my capacity to receive, so that one day I may live in the presence of Love.
God bless you all, my dear ones.
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
As promised, here are the words of the simple, but lovely hymn I sang last week. I hope you like old hymns with lots of 'eths' in!
(Tune: Ravenshaw - adapted from a German Mediaeval Melody by W.H. Monk, words by H.W. Baker.)
DDF#GA-A-,BC#DAF#GA-,GEF#GF#ED-,C#DEF#E-D-
Lord, thy word abideth,
and our footsteps guideth;
who its truth believeth
light and joy receiveth.
When our foes are near us,
then thy word doth cheer us,
word of consolation,
message of salvation.
When the storms are o'er us,
and dark clouds before us,
then its light directeth,
and our way protecteth.
Who can tell the pleasure,
who recount the treasure,
by thy word imparted
to the simple-hearted?
Word of mercy, giving
succour to the living:
word of life, supplying
comfort to the dying.
O that we discerning
its most holy learning,
Lord, may love and fear thee,
evermore be near thee.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Scarlet
Mellon Collie
# 1738
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Posted
Miss Molly,
I am finally putting some pictures in the mail first thing in the morning. I despair that it has taken me so long. ![[Frown]](frown.gif) Expanse soap operas have taken over my life, it seems...which have thwarted my task time. My car just got inspected today (2 months late).
The pix are coming priority mail so you'll have them soon. They are for St. Seb to see also. Hope y'all will smile and the happiness I experienced will be evident.
Thanks for sharing. I relate to what you say about the occupational hazards that nurses experience. I've been hit by one of those whizzing bullets, too. But, as you say - that was not God's intention. He is Love, and His mercy is perfect. We just live in a fallen world for the moment. Sickness abounds here.
Fearless is fine and we love you. She marvels at the idea of babyfood meats for her food. oh, my goodness...no beating heart anymore. do I really have to use the heart shower? yes, I must.
![[Love]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif)
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They took from their surroundings what was needed... and made of it something more.
—dialogue from Primer
Posts: 4769 | Registered: Nov 2001
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Lady A
Narnian Lady
# 3126
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Posted
Miss Molly,
I was at my conference this week and I sat, in front of my fireplace, watching the evening glint off of Haystack Rock. I was writing a calendar to my daughter for her 25th birthday. One of those '52 weeks of adventure & fun' things. I went back over my old calendars and wrote in on different days, "went to see Grandma and Grandpa B in 1988" or "jazz dance recital - 1990". So, I was filling in the blanks with once each week telling her "I love you" and Fields of Gold came on. So I danced in front of the fireplace, with the flames, and the waves out the windows praying for you, holding you tenderly in my thoughts.
My daughter has pretty much decided to stay in for 9 more months, and apply for the nursing program which she'll be able to do there if she stays. She loved your thoughts and said that she felt encouraged by what you had to say, so thank you very much.
Our bunnies have been inside for several days now because it is so cold out. Last night for Halloween I opened the door once and they both raced for the door! The two trick or treaters both totally forgot they were there for candy and started to come in to pet Blackberry and Higgins! They were so funny! I was trying to deposit candy in bags that had been forgotten, shoo bunnies away from the door, and herd the two kids back out to Mom! (I also made sure that my front walk was totally covered with leaves so that all would have to crunch up to the front door!)
Nibbling thoughts to you!
Posts: 2545 | From: The Lion's Mane, Narnia | Registered: Aug 2002
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
I apologise if you have seen these before but they were brought back from the Shetland Isles by a lady at my church and are rather lovely. They are the Itinerary Prayers, originating from the Celtic Tradition:
In the name of the Father
In the name of the Son
In the name of the Spirit
Three in One.
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
(As Jesus taught us, so we pray. Our Father...)
O Everlasting Father
Creator of all things
Take this your servant Molly
In your own generous clasp
In your own generous arm
May you be with her in every pass
With her on every hill
With her on every stream
On headland, road and rill
Each sea, each land, each moor, each meadow
Each lying down, each rising up
In trough of the waves, on the crest of the billows
Each step of the journey she goes
May she rest in the love of God, our dearest
May she rest in the love of Christ His Son
May she rest in the love of the Comforter Eternal
Ever rest in the Three in One
May your guarding, O God, be hers
May your guarding, O loving Christ, be hers
May your guarding, Holy Spirit, be hers
To cherish her, to enfold her, until we meet again. Amen.
Michael, prince of angels, go with her
Raphael, encompass her under the covering of your wings
Gabriel, shield her soul and keep her ever in the ways of God
Lord, you who are the light of our path
The guiding star above us
And the joy of our hearts
Set us in your love, this day, this night and for ever
Of your power protect us
Of your love lift us
And in your arms accept us
From the ebbing of the tide to its flowing
From the waning of life to its waxing. Amen.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Nunc Dimittis
Seamstress of Sound
# 848
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
As promised, here are the words of the simple, but lovely hymn I sang last week. I hope you like old hymns with lots of 'eths' in!
(Tune: Ravenshaw - adapted from a German Mediaeval Melody by W.H. Monk, words by H.W. Baker.)
And the hymn can be found in the Cyber Hymnal, here.
[edited because I am stupid and forgot the link. ]
[ 02. November 2002, 11:38: Message edited by: Nunc Dimittis ]
Posts: 9515 | From: Delta Quadrant | Registered: Jul 2001
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Except that when we sing it, unlike the cyber hymnal, we don't go:
thump, thump,bang, bang, thump, thump
bang, bang, thump, thump, bang, bang, thump.....!
You will have to insert some musicality to imagine what it really sounds like
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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duchess
Ship's Blue Blooded Lady
# 2764
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Posted
Molly, you say some unbelieveably beautiful stuff...changed my signature to your great words.
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♬♭ We're setting sail to the place on the map from which nobody has ever returned ♫♪♮
Ship of Fools-World Party
Posts: 11197 | From: Do you know the way? | Registered: May 2002
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Michèle
Bunny sister
# 1401
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Posted
Que Dieu Te Benisse ma Chère.
Thank God for your beauty, wisdom, Grace, openness, righteousness, and for the love you give to your blesséd family and friends.
I pray you will have treasured time with your family.
love m
xxx
Posts: 944 | From: Dissertation Hell | Registered: Sep 2001
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
My dear shipmates, I have long felt you are brothers and sisters to me. God bless you all in all your activities this day and always.
Your Grace, and cher Mme Pipkin, thank you for your loving thoughts. Your opinion of me humbles me. I will do my best to become the kind of person you think I am.
Dear Chorister, thank you for the words to the hymn and the chords. It is exactly the kind of old-fashioned church hymn I like!
Nunc Dimittis, thank you for the audio link. I love the cyber hymnal. Now I have speakers, and I love the music available on the net.
My mother and sister arrived Saturday afternoon, at the exact moment predicted by my father, to whom I had chatted earlier that day! He keeps a mental map and chronometer for all places to which he has driven. Sometimes, people don't arrive when they should by his calculations, due to variables like choosing to stop for lunch, or to use a restroom, or choosing not to "fly low" on a rainy day. Then he is very frustrated! However, on this occasion, my relatives had done their duty and made the time he thought they should.
They brought me a lovely multi-photo frame to hang above my sofa. There are far too many pictures of me from toddlerhood, through little girlhood, to high school graduation, and the winter before my nephew was born, but there are also pictures of my beautiful young mother, my sister the day she arrived home from the hospital, my uncle and a lot of cousins, my brother and my sister-in-law, my father, and my father's parents. It makes me very happy to see all these memories captured on film, and remember the circumstances of many of the photos. For instance, in Dona's "debut" picture, a very disgruntled-looking older sister is holding her! The facial expression is due to a swollen cheek from a visit to the dentist that day. Looking at the photo, I also see I am wearing a green plaid dress I liked very much. Another great photo is one of my brother and myself, wearing our night clothes but also proudly wearing our new Roy Rogers and Dale Evans cowboy hats and gun belts, pointing our pistols at evil doers!
My mother has been telling some stories about me I had not heard before. There is one photo of me at about age five, sitting on Santa's knee. I want you to know my coat, dress, and little leather pocketbook were all fashioned by my mother. This was not without difficulty, as apparently I decided to cut some of the dress fabric out for my own purposes! This was from a sleeve, the last bit of the dress that was unfinished. My mother, with her heart in her throat, dashed down to the Penney's store hoping there might be a scrap of brown gingham left to complete my ensemble. Fortunately there was! Another story is also attached to this photo. My mother says I was taking no chances; I not only told Santa in great detail what I wanted, but gave him my name, address, and phone number! I have always been thorough, you see. And thoroughness works! Santa Claus has come to see me every year of my life.
Part of today was spent by my agile and determined sister in hanging ribbon streamers on the wall behind my chair. I was able to tape many cards and post cards to them, that previously I had not had room to display. Now many more of your cherished communications are available to see. Since every kitchen should have a window, she and my mother purchased a mirror made to look like one. My sister's amazing, loving energy extended to hanging this, too, as well as a decorative ribbon bow and streamers to frame my picture window.
Through the window today, the geese put on an air show! Back and forth, up and down they flew. They were beautiful and graceful in their element, the air.
Dear Saint Sebastian is frequently in pain these days. It is possible he has one of two glycogen processing disorders: McArdle's disease or Acid Maltase Deficiency. Either one leads to pain and weakness in the muscles. There is no cure for either, and not much in the way of treatment. Please pray for him. I will, too, of course, and I have given over whipping him with my oxygen tubing.
I had a visit from the Hammargrens this evening, who brought the dainty feline diva, Mahalia. She loved all the attention she got from my mother and sister, explored the apartment again, and played a little with some scrap ribbon. She even sat on my lap and let me stroke her briefly. This is hard for her, as cats do not like hissing sounds, such as my oxygen makes, but she lovingly bore with it to give me this tactile treat. At the close of the visit, we put the towel I had been steeping in my aroma in her travel box, and she seemed to be comforted by it.
Dear shipmates, I send you my true affection, at whatever time it is for you, and in whatever place.
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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Brent
Shipmate
# 3498
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Posted
Miss Molly,
I have just recently joined this community on a recommendation from a dear friend of mine and I look forward to interacting with the members. I am, at this time trying to learn my way around and I may not have enough time tonight to read through all these posts of yours, but an interesting start. I can sense from some of the posts that you enriched in God's blessings while enduring some difficult situations in your life and I commend you for your strength. I have someone very close in my life who has, and is, enduring some difficult situations also and her strength is an example that reminds me of my shortfalls and how much I need his presence on a daily basis. I thank God every day for this special person. You are an enlightened individual from what I can tell so far and I look forward to reading the rest of the posts you have entered. I can tell already that I will be enjoying myself in here.
Blessings to you....
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In His Grip...
Posts: 127 | From: On the links | Registered: Oct 2002
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
Molly, here are two more websites that play hymns.
A Methodist site and an Anglican site.
I hope you enjoy them.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
Hi Brent, and welcome. This is a good thread to start on. Miss Molly is a very special person, as you'll soon find out.
(BTW those hands on your avatar are actually mine ! Fame at last.)
Exits singing Chorister's lovely hymn.
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Brent
Shipmate
# 3498
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Posted
Thank you for your welcome Gill, I was wondering where those wandering hands came from, I feel the music but I sure can't play it, so play away, and let your music touch those who are part of your life.
I am sure in time I will feel a bit more comfortable in posting and welcomes like yours are helpful. Enjoy the day and all that God has to offer.
Brent
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In His Grip...
Posts: 127 | From: On the links | Registered: Oct 2002
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Dear Shipmates, once again I am keeping the graveyard watch! I laugh as I think how appropriate this is.
Welcome aboard, Brent. I hope your voyage aboard the Ship will be as blessed as mine has been.
Dear Gill, what elegant hands! Now I will imagine you playing.
Dear Moo, thanks for the links to the two music sources. By the way, I, too, love "I will pass over thee" on the Ralph Stanley CD you so kindly sent.
Today was spent in dealing with more bureaucratic snags. I had my telephone interview, and the case worker identified more information she needed. She agreed, that instead of waiting for her to mail me a supplemental vocational report and the release forms for medical records, that my sister could drive to her office and obtain them. The forms could not be faxed to us at the office here, as the government requires original documents, she said. My sister thought this was incorrect, based on her experience working for the General Service Agency of our government, but we decided it would be simpler to "go with the flow".
While she ran this errand, I spent time with various dunning doctors' offices, explaining my circumstances. The prize today for hilarious remark goes to the lady at the radiology practice, who wanted to know if I could pay if they came down a bit on the bill! The upshot of talking to everyone is that I must contact the patient eligibility worker at LDS Hospital and have her send them all paperwork relating to the decision by them to write off my bill as a charity case. Then each practice: pathology, radiology, and anesthesiology will make its decision whether to extend charitable consideration. Accordingly, I called the hospital caseworker and left her a message. She has not returned my call yet, so tomorrow I must call again. Incidentally, I did a quick mental addition of all the bills and they amount to $63,000+ for care I received while in the hospital.
When Dona arrived home, she brought the news that I must re-do my descriptions of what constituted my duties as a registered nurse. I had ignorantly followed the instructions and detailed what sort of machinery I operated, what technical knowledge the post required, what kind of writing I did, and what supervisory responsibilities I had. The instructions said nothing about detailing how often or far I walked, how much I lifted, and how often. So I spent a fair amount of time rewriting the section to include the information.
As my sister said, the Railroad Retirement Board caseworker is trying to help me, by pointing out all the facts that will make a difference in deciding my case. I was pretty irked, however, as I had done as the form requested in the first instance. I did not think it was fair that the form did not ask for what it really wanted. However, I do have to remember that the form is geared to railroad jobs. The people on the review board know what these entail; they do not really have a clue just how much physical effort is involved in being a nurse. My sister says they could very well have decided I could perform my duties while riding in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached, and denied me benefits accordingly.
It is a very good thing my sister was here to explain and encourage, as my inclination was to be rather childish and tell the bureaucracy to go to H-E-double toothpicks, and take their dratted money, which they seem bound and determined I shall never see a penny of, with them! Please note, the caseworker is helpful; it is the forms,
regulations, and hidden agenda that are causing the revelation of my basic nasty-temperedness.
I know this ruins my chance at sainthood, but it is my true nature.
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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Miss_Molly
Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339
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Posted
Still haven't mastered the smilies. The hypocrite one was meant to go only at the end of the post. I do sincerely love the Ralph Stanley song mentioned!
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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"
Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899
Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002
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