Letters to Mom

Hey Mom; As you know this time of year can be rough.  Expecting Nick at the end of the month helped us get through December.  Annoying stuff was breaking/straining my foot and now we're dealing with the recovering point of a killer flu that's been going around.  We've barely gone out in 2 weeks.  When we went to Walmart I wore thin gloves and yesterday I added a bandana to pull up if we got near people.  I don't want to relapse nor spread it.  I never had the fever so I'm not sure when I'm contagious. I'm adapting to the Duprytens Disease/Viking's Disease.  They say over-using the hand doesn't make it worse.  I hope not.  I can't seem to be able to dictate aloud.  Going to work on it more. Tired. Miss you, Mom

5 years, Mama.  Many days it feels like yesterday.  We miss you.  I miss you so many times during the day that it's probably bordering on weird. You were definitely around on the 1st.  Pulling into the lot at a RiteAid and hearing the opening chords to Baba O'Reilly made me smile and listen to the entire thing in the lot. Then there was Meat Loaf on the way to Wal-Mart. Then seeing something beyond expected - a mini-van with a sticker on the back that said "Are you a turtle?"  I almost knocked on the window to ask if she collected turtles.  I've never seen that sticker before, Ma. Then immediately after - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart comes on. Love you too, Mom.

Never really thought that Charles Manson would last this long.  May his soul be blotted out for all eternity. I vaguely remember a sense of unease in the house at the time, Mom.  Being way down in LA helped keep a full blown panic away but I remember you avoiding the news at night for awhile, I think you were trying to keep that from me and can understand that. I remember clearly the school bus kidnapping too.  I was a little older and rode the school bus everyday and it wasn't that far from us - what an hour and a half, maybe?  Miss you, Mom.  This time of year is always worse.  I haven't watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas since watching it with you in the Emergency Room.  I think I see my psych tomorrow.  The pain in the hands and all over body aches and back and........ etc/etc/etc make it hard to cope lately and I sometimes wonder if I can keep this up for another 10-25 yrs, Mom. I still have one dream left unfulfilled, Mom.  ...

My foot and two smallest toes are blue with some purples.  Some pain but nowhere near like it was Friday.  It's been annoying - oh well, could have been worse

Jackie jumped in to help with the sweeping and mopping this morning. I did the kitchen, dining room, hallway and cleaned and mopped the bathroom. While she did some mopping I set about feeding the cats their small bit of canned food they get every morning.  House slippers + slick press on tiles =  ow ow ow.  I twisted to keep from hitting my elbow – the same arm/elbow I’ve broken 3x in my life already.   I landed hard on my leg, knee and twisted my foot.   Ow – the knee is slightly upset with me and my foot is WAY unhappy.   I don’t know if I broke the foot or not, the toes are angry but they move.   So, I’m hobbling around the house with a throbbing foot.   Joy

Kinda down, Ma.  Losing Harry Dean Stanton wasn't really a surprise. The guy that created the Rockford Files, A-Team, Baretta, etc. Hugh Hefner, Monty Hall........ and Tom Petty.  That last one was a shock.  Age 66. On top of that there was a female police officer killed here in Georgia and then 59 people killed at a concert in Las Vegas with 500 injured.  A gunman with an illegally altered weapon sprayed the crowd from a room high up.  The perfect perch. Isis claimed him which is highly unlikely but the fact that Antifa claimed him as one of theirs might be true.  Was he a leftist nutjob?  The last shooting that made headlines was a leftist nutjob that opened up on Republicans at a baseball field. And the Democrats and IDIOTIC "gun control" advocates want to take our guns.  How the hell does taking away my legally purchased weapon lower the crime rate?  Fuck that added: we're adapting to going to the gym fairly regularly.  Jacki...

We missed Monday because of the hurricane.  Wed. went okay - I pushed more on the bike than I did this last summer and worked to exercise the muscles more on the circut.  I was a little stiff yesterday but not as bad as I feared.  Wed night my hands and forearms hurt really bad so I pulled back a little on the machine that hits those and went a little light on one of the shoulder ones. My muscles pull out of whack so easily, Ma! We took "before photos" - Jackie is dismayed that she's at 160-163lbs.  I was at 160, today it was 156 1/2 - if I can keep it headed downhill....  optimum weight would be 130-135 lbs.  Healthy would be 140 lbs. Not easy but we're more motivated to get up and go, thankfully.  Jackie wasn't up to it Wed but I was going to go without her and she changed her mind and was glad that she did. Wish us well, Mom.  I think this time she really wants to get healthy.  Me too