I just received the news today that a friend and former colleague of mine from several years ago had a stroke on Friday. I and the friend that called me to let me know are in absolute shock and disbelief. Like myself, apparently she has been dealing with HBP lately and in the past. She had been feeling tired and disoriented last week and before anyone knew it, she had a stroke and is in the ICU on life support at a local hospital.
Outside of being a smoker (which I'm not sure she was still doing), she was a healthy, active, beautiful person! Petite, brunette and funny, she had a lot going for her and would always do anything to help in a pinch. I'm absolutely heartbroken thinking of her lying in a hospital bed with machines attached to her and there being no hope of survival!
The stroke affected the part of her brain that controls movement and physical ability. At first they thought only her left side was paralyzed, but the doctors have stated it is her entire body and that she is in a vegetative state. It's too surreal. My memories of her are of her being bubbly, dancing, water skiing and always smiling. I haven't seen her in a while, but we kept in touch through e-mails. I had been thinking about her a lot recently, and now I know why.
Her family is completley devastated! She has a 13 year old daughter (who lost her father to a domestic violence incident with his 3rd wife) who is as beautiful as she is. Her family is torn, trying to decide what to do; let your daughter live in a vegetative state the rest of her life or take her off of life support and let her pass on?
I cried most of the afternoon and some tonight wishing I had done more to see her, make more of a frequent effort to keep in touch. She is only 41.... FORTY-ONE! Just a few years older than I am.... A STROKE! It just really hits home! My own doctor stated just 4 months ago that had it not been for medication I was taking before going on the beta-blockers that I definitely would have had a stroke myself, he had absolutely no doubt about it.
The thought of going to the funeral of a friend this week is too much. We shouldn't be dying, we should be living. This is the last place I intended to see old friends again... or even to have to say good bye to one. You always receive those e-mail chain letters about telling people how much they mean to you every chance you get. It couldn't be more true! I wish I had just one more chance to tell her what a great person I thought she was, superb manager and gifted in so many ways.
Please keep my friend Dorathy, her daughter and her family in your prayers this week. I'm only hoping a miracle will manifest itself this week and she will come out of this healthy and mildly affected. Miracles do happen, right?
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
BUSY Little Bee!
YEAH! It's almost March! My crocus' are already blooming (along with the daffodils that were here long before I moved in) and I can't WAIT for the tulips to finally bloom! It has been the WEIRDEST winter here, mostly 50's and 60's, and not even enough snow to sneeze at!
I'm steadily on the road to finding a new job and hope something positive will happen by the end of March. It can't be soon enough! I'm about to loose my mind with all of the retail BS! *sigh*.... how I miss corporate and office work! At least I have the kids I babysit to keep me sane (how fun is that... and most parents say children drive them INsane).
The 20-year reunion for our high school is starting to FINALLY come together after a little hurdle and bump in the road. The best part has been re-connecting with everyone after all of these years! I really do miss Harvard so much (or maybe just the people I went to school with). I really can't WAIT for it finally to all get here (and with a new job, I should ACTUALLY be able to go)!
Then, there is the pending "holiday" coming up. For me, it's Ostara, those in the mundane world prefer to celebrate Easter. It's actually going to be a very nice celebration this year. It won't be the first Easter I've spent w/o family, but thank goodness for the family you choose, the friends you bring into your fold. I was speaking with a friend at work today, one I've become very close to, and we're actually going to celebrate it together! A good, old-fashioned, family dinner with all the fixin's (lol). I'm looking forward to actually having a nice dinner party in my home for a change, I'm always at everyone else's. When we spent New Year's together, we had SUCH a good time; I'm really looking forward to doing it again. I invited another friend, but don't know if she, her beau and son will make it.
It's odd.... after my debacles with Xperts and eFilescare (lol), I have been very guarded and hesitant to make friends where I work again, the whole trust factor and all. But, I really would up with a good friend at this company and while at eFile. I truly was blessed with that!
Well, off to bed. There's a brief update for ya! Say some prayers, send some blessings, work a little magic and keep your fingers crossed! Next week should be the start of a new beginning, I hope!
I'm steadily on the road to finding a new job and hope something positive will happen by the end of March. It can't be soon enough! I'm about to loose my mind with all of the retail BS! *sigh*.... how I miss corporate and office work! At least I have the kids I babysit to keep me sane (how fun is that... and most parents say children drive them INsane).
The 20-year reunion for our high school is starting to FINALLY come together after a little hurdle and bump in the road. The best part has been re-connecting with everyone after all of these years! I really do miss Harvard so much (or maybe just the people I went to school with). I really can't WAIT for it finally to all get here (and with a new job, I should ACTUALLY be able to go)!
Then, there is the pending "holiday" coming up. For me, it's Ostara, those in the mundane world prefer to celebrate Easter. It's actually going to be a very nice celebration this year. It won't be the first Easter I've spent w/o family, but thank goodness for the family you choose, the friends you bring into your fold. I was speaking with a friend at work today, one I've become very close to, and we're actually going to celebrate it together! A good, old-fashioned, family dinner with all the fixin's (lol). I'm looking forward to actually having a nice dinner party in my home for a change, I'm always at everyone else's. When we spent New Year's together, we had SUCH a good time; I'm really looking forward to doing it again. I invited another friend, but don't know if she, her beau and son will make it.
It's odd.... after my debacles with Xperts and eFilescare (lol), I have been very guarded and hesitant to make friends where I work again, the whole trust factor and all. But, I really would up with a good friend at this company and while at eFile. I truly was blessed with that!
Well, off to bed. There's a brief update for ya! Say some prayers, send some blessings, work a little magic and keep your fingers crossed! Next week should be the start of a new beginning, I hope!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Reuunion Angst!
So things were going GREAT! We had the date set, planning was smooth sailing, the reception place was narrowed down and ALL of a sudden there are about 4 "local-yokals" that want to move the date because it's inconvenient for "them"! Ummm... WHERE were you folks MONTHS ago when we got the word out, started the planning and asked for frickin' feedback? And NOW you want to step in and change EVERYTHING?
We took everything into consideration - knowing about 80% of the class will be coming in from out of town, arranging lodging, a suitable locale AND when people would most like to come. THEN, people want to up and change everything? NEVER MIND that we have spent money getting everything straight, arranged and getting things together. And the rumor mill says they're looking at August? That's back to school and off to college time for most! That couldn't be a WORSE time. Especially for travelers.
That's fine. The group there wants to do there own little thing, fine. They live there, can get together many times a year. The bulk of us aren't going to make trips back and forth and we want to ENJOY our time. As a whole, we selected Milk Days Weekend. I'm sorry if you'd rather go to a party locally and think it's an inconvenience to visit with long ago friends, but let's get real. It truly isn't about YOU. It's about everyone and the 130 students that attended along WITH you - not just to 4-6 that want a different date.
ARG! Some people will just never get it...........
We took everything into consideration - knowing about 80% of the class will be coming in from out of town, arranging lodging, a suitable locale AND when people would most like to come. THEN, people want to up and change everything? NEVER MIND that we have spent money getting everything straight, arranged and getting things together. And the rumor mill says they're looking at August? That's back to school and off to college time for most! That couldn't be a WORSE time. Especially for travelers.
That's fine. The group there wants to do there own little thing, fine. They live there, can get together many times a year. The bulk of us aren't going to make trips back and forth and we want to ENJOY our time. As a whole, we selected Milk Days Weekend. I'm sorry if you'd rather go to a party locally and think it's an inconvenience to visit with long ago friends, but let's get real. It truly isn't about YOU. It's about everyone and the 130 students that attended along WITH you - not just to 4-6 that want a different date.
ARG! Some people will just never get it...........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
