Our girl.
: )
Sent: 11/6/08 @ 10:15 a.m.
Subject: howdy
Hi Girlfriends.
I’ll miss you all this week at bookclub (enjoying the book A., “What is the What”).
FYI, I just booked a flight to Tennessee and am leaving Sat. night.The docs now say that Dad has cancer in his pancreas (in addition to what they originally found in his spinal column . . . which was found because of the shingles).He’s been on radiation since the 1st, so it’s helping him be able to move from his bed to the wheelchair . . . and he even took a few spins around the nurses station in his chair (on his own).
His attitude is good, but I want to go back and help out (I was there 10/14-21 already).
So, I’m writing because I love knowing that my many wonderful girlfriends are holding my family in their hearts and prayers.Tony will be joining me in Tenn. on the 20th of November. Until then he has his hands full doing all our video da kine . . . . (we also have a few house guests who were momentarily homeless . . . they should be taking care of Rocket Girl until we return on the 11th of December).
aloha,
Susan
• • •
Also sent the following to my cousin in Brooklyn:
Right now he’s responding to the radiation. He’s got a good attitude. H.’s dealing with the hard red-tape of setting up another place for him after he leaves the hospital (probably on the 11th of Nov.).
WE’RE NOT LETTING DAD KNOW ABOUT THE RED TAPE. NO NEED TO STRESS HIM OUT AND CAUSE HIM TO FEEL GUILTY . . .
So, I’m writing to you just to keep you in the loop.Best to you and C.
P.S. Dad L O V E D his pet calf. Knoxville, Tennessee 1920s. The depression was ever present. Food was scarce. But for my Dad, this calf brought hope of milk . . . and love. ;-)
Just today a friend wrote on Facebook that his memory of friends who he hasn’t seen in years is frozen in time, i.e. he remembers them as being young. : )
Nice.
Here’s my Dad as a young man.
Long live in youth, Dad! You’re a great example to us all of living life A L W A Y S to the fullest–even when dying from cancer.Dad, you rock!
-Sj
p.s. reposted 3/14/2014 after photos had gone for a walk-about. They return when it’s time. : )
When I look at my calendar notes from a year ago today, here’s what I see:
– S. French lesson
– mailed DVD to D. @ Grand Hyatt
– S. trimmed mock orange hedge, listened to Les Miz.
– T. finished poster for E., printed @ UH Kinko’s (M. agreed to delivery . . . )
– T. to Ycamp, windsurfed and got T’s camera
– T. rehearsal in Lihue, came home with idea for Sunday
– S. watched French movie with RG
It must have been a day off because there’s no “S. office work” or “shoot @ . . .”.And when I thumb ahead I see that there are no more entries like “S. French lesson” until late in the spring of the following year.And you can see that on 9/24/08 I did several things relating to French studies—the lesson, listening to the story of Les Miserable (en francais for kids) and watching a movie with Rocket Girl.For those of you who know me, yes, I did get to go to France four months later to study French, but I didn’t crack a book once between the 24th of September and then.Why?Our life was about to change though we didn’t know it at the time.
Looking at the calendar notes, I see that M. at Kinko’s agreed to deliver a poster. This was a big deal because Tony had been working hard on a surprise poster for a friend with cancer.He and his wife were in Honolulu where he was being treated with radiation.Tony had photographed the important people in E.’s life and made a fabulous poster—a collage of all these happy, smiling familiar faces.We wanted to bring some sunshine into his life, surprise him, and remind him that he wasn’t alone and that we were all thinking of him.Long story short, it was going to be too late to get the poster to him before they left Honolulu because of all kinds of boring, real-world things.So I called back.
“It’s really important that it gets delivered because . . .”“Okay,” she said, “Someone can simply drive it over to their hotel.”
Sigh.We were so glad to know that they were going to get it.We imagined their happy faces and felt glad to be able to do a little bitty something to make their lives better—for the moment.
Little did I know that this was the last week that my 87 year old Dad would ever play tennis.
An 87 year old man playing tennis, you ask? Yes, my Dad was an amazing athlete.He’d been playing tennis since he was a kid in Knoxville, Tennessee during the depression.He and some life-long friends made a court in the dirt.Little did they realize how much that one simple act would affect the rest of their lives. Earlier in September 2008 Dad had won a three hour match at a national tennis tournament. Yes, a 3 hour match!And he and mom had driven to the tournament in their 35’ motor home.
So, fast-forward to Sunday, September 28, 2008.Dad had trouble putting his shoes on for church that morning.
Refusing to be discouraged by his heavy feet, he met friends at the court the following day for their weekly match.The heaviness continued and by Friday the 3rd of October, he couldn’t walk.
Later, I wrote some letters to girlfriends about what was going on.
I’ve debated for a while whether or not I wanted to start a blog. “That just seems so self-absorbed,” I’ve said to myself more times than I can count.
While discussing this with a friend this past spring, she said (no, I’m not quoting her directly; there was no tape recorder on during our little heart to heart), “Well, can’t everything we do be called self-absorbed? When we eat, when we sleep, when my husband, for example, records his band? You don’t think of him as self-absorbed, do you, when he writes a song and then plays it in public?”
“Well no, of course not,” I replied.
“And you’re not a self-absorbed person, so it won’t be either,” she said.
So now, almost five months later, I’ve decided to go for it–to start Susan’s Backwards Glob.
Why “Glob”? Well, because I think it’s going to be a glob of all kinds of things–the letters to my friends about my Dad and about my trip to France; maybe even some of the things I’ve written about our wonderful dog Fido. I’m really not quite sure what all I will include. And as to whether anyone will actually read this or not, I don’t think I want to even think about that (Except for if something relates to someone else, I don’t think I should include their real name. What is the protocol on that kind of thing in blogs? This enquiring mind would like to know.).
And Backwards because I would rather live IN the moment and not WRITE in the moment. But then again, who knows where this will lead. I’m going to take it one “publish post” at a time.
I just know that I really enjoyed writing those letters to my friends and that I miss writing. Also, they tell me that they enjoyed getting those letters and miss receiving new ones. I suppose this will be a test of sorts to see if people who don’t know me, want to read what I write. But the bottom line for me, is that I simply enjoy writing. Something about it calms my mind and feeds my soul.
Well, here goes nothing!