I’m trying to make lemonade … I really am … but after being bombarded with a dump truck full of lemons this past week I felt a bit overwhelmed! Then, as a topper to the week over night and this morning it is raining—hard with something you don’t see very often in the winter time—water running in the gutters. I suppose the old timers consider it a blessing but for a newbie to Arizona winters, I find it gray and gloomy and acutely dismal.
Starting off the week there was a fire in our RV Park last Sunday. It happened in the middle of the night and it is believed a charcoal BBQ tucked underneath the trailer at bedtime ignited a golf bag nearby and it went from there. No one was hurt but as you will see in the pictures below, the trailer burned to the ground. They are taking up a collection for the victims and doing a benefit dinner next week. The neighbor told Phil that it woke him up and when he looked outside he saw a ladies purse come flying out the window followed by the occupants out the door. Seeing the destruction and realizing how quickly it can happen left me with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. As wonderful as these rolling homes are for people with gypsy blood in their veins, they can transform themselves from a comfortable, cozy home into a puff of smoke in a heartbeat. Rarely is there anything left to salvage.
Mid-week my sister, Dixie went in for another surgery on her hip. An earlier X-Ray determined that one of the screws in the original repair job was coming loose. When the surgeon opened the incision he found an infection and had to abort the repair and leave the bones without support. Through yesterday, she was still in ICU and has been immobilized in traction until the infection is eradicated and they are able to try another repair on the hip bone. After making such great progress the week before this is a major setback and understandably, Dixie is suffering from a huge case of the “D’s” … disappointment, depression, distress, downheartedness along with being seriously DISGUSTED to mention just a few! Thank you to all who have stopped by to see her, sent her wishes for a quick recovery and made all the phone calls to cheer her up. Her other sister, Robin and I appreciate you all taking the time to give her daughter, Tammy a well-earned “attaboy” for the care she is giving her mother and to let Dixie know she is in your thoughts.
The third punch I received was in a heartfelt letter that arrived from the daughter of one of my ELLISON cousins. Even though we only met once, her mother, Mary and I have corresponded over past years, sometimes more often than others and truly enjoyed examining our family tree together and sharing our life stories. Her daughter, Valorae, informed me that Mary has been placed in a nursing home with rapidly advancing dementia and she is only three years older than me. It has broken my heart and I am sincerely mourning her loss.
Beyond the obvious, the fact that I woke up each morning in fairly good health and without any aches and pains, the bright spot of the week was that my Aunt Elaine finally arrived in Yuma yesterday. After a large number of very cold weeks in Washington along with rain and even some snow, she finally got out of Dodge! Her son, Casey drove down with her and both were happy to get here and find it 70 degrees on her patio (I'm wondering if they brought this rain with them)! Unfortunately, due to civic wheels grinding slowly, her electricity will not be turned on until Monday so they are operating from extension cords plugged in at the neighbors until then. Gosh, it is good to have her here again!
Here is a quote I find very apropos this morning—from the author of Winnie the Pooh: “Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” A.A. Milne (1892-1983)
Starting off the week there was a fire in our RV Park last Sunday. It happened in the middle of the night and it is believed a charcoal BBQ tucked underneath the trailer at bedtime ignited a golf bag nearby and it went from there. No one was hurt but as you will see in the pictures below, the trailer burned to the ground. They are taking up a collection for the victims and doing a benefit dinner next week. The neighbor told Phil that it woke him up and when he looked outside he saw a ladies purse come flying out the window followed by the occupants out the door. Seeing the destruction and realizing how quickly it can happen left me with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. As wonderful as these rolling homes are for people with gypsy blood in their veins, they can transform themselves from a comfortable, cozy home into a puff of smoke in a heartbeat. Rarely is there anything left to salvage.
Mid-week my sister, Dixie went in for another surgery on her hip. An earlier X-Ray determined that one of the screws in the original repair job was coming loose. When the surgeon opened the incision he found an infection and had to abort the repair and leave the bones without support. Through yesterday, she was still in ICU and has been immobilized in traction until the infection is eradicated and they are able to try another repair on the hip bone. After making such great progress the week before this is a major setback and understandably, Dixie is suffering from a huge case of the “D’s” … disappointment, depression, distress, downheartedness along with being seriously DISGUSTED to mention just a few! Thank you to all who have stopped by to see her, sent her wishes for a quick recovery and made all the phone calls to cheer her up. Her other sister, Robin and I appreciate you all taking the time to give her daughter, Tammy a well-earned “attaboy” for the care she is giving her mother and to let Dixie know she is in your thoughts.
The third punch I received was in a heartfelt letter that arrived from the daughter of one of my ELLISON cousins. Even though we only met once, her mother, Mary and I have corresponded over past years, sometimes more often than others and truly enjoyed examining our family tree together and sharing our life stories. Her daughter, Valorae, informed me that Mary has been placed in a nursing home with rapidly advancing dementia and she is only three years older than me. It has broken my heart and I am sincerely mourning her loss.
Beyond the obvious, the fact that I woke up each morning in fairly good health and without any aches and pains, the bright spot of the week was that my Aunt Elaine finally arrived in Yuma yesterday. After a large number of very cold weeks in Washington along with rain and even some snow, she finally got out of Dodge! Her son, Casey drove down with her and both were happy to get here and find it 70 degrees on her patio (I'm wondering if they brought this rain with them)! Unfortunately, due to civic wheels grinding slowly, her electricity will not be turned on until Monday so they are operating from extension cords plugged in at the neighbors until then. Gosh, it is good to have her here again!
Here is a quote I find very apropos this morning—from the author of Winnie the Pooh: “Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” A.A. Milne (1892-1983)
