I love this wireless stuff. Right now I am at the Pilgrims Church where I took Barb, Dawn, and a new woman also named Barb. As I sit here in the car the computer notified me that I was in range of a wireless network. Clicking on the balloon it shows three networks. Two of them are “Secured networks” and one is not so I connected to it and went online to check my E mail. Too cool.
I met with Jeff at the Waffle House as we usually do every Friday. We talked about what I guess you would call theology. I explained my problem with the Christian adherence to the creation story as it is found in Genesis. It totally denies all the evidence that this earth and universe is millions of years old or at least the Christian churches do. What they do is worm around every way they can to make everything conform to their belief of how it is supposed to be. They dig up scientists and experts to support these concepts and choose to ignore the facts before them. One of the explanations I have heard is that God just made everything old. Why would He do that? Beats me, perhaps to confuse everybody and make it harder to believe. According to Genesis if you follow the genealogy from Adam and Eve which shows the blood line and ages of those in it the Earth is only about 5,000 years old. I explained my theory on that and while it made Jeff think he said he will hold to his belief that it is the way he has been told by the church.
I lost track of the time and told Jeff I had to fly because this is a busy morning and it would be hard for me to fit everything in the time schedule. As I sped down the road to pick up Cherie’s check I called Barb to let her know I was running late and to have everyone ready. Picking them up I said “Hold on cause I’m gonna fly”. I made use of this North star V8 which caused a bit of consternation as I cut the red lights a bit close. “Slow down Bob” Barb told me and I explained “Barb this is nothing. You should see how I drove back in the day I was living wild”. We got here in one piece and I told them to hurry cause I have to be back at the apartment by 11:00. It will tight. They are back now so things will work out.
I made it back in time and the maintenance guy is here. He will have to turn off the water to the whole building to fix our bath faucet. 47 years of calcium build up is a problem that doesn’t fix easy. Now he is working on the window cranks that also have worn out. The leaking window they will have to get someone else to do as it requires getting up three stories on the outside of the building and perhaps roof work.
I am doing well this morning, running about an 8 on the Bob scale. As always I hope it stays that way but will try to get stuff done quickly in case I slow down. Allen called me while I was picking up the girls for food. He asked if I could come and visit because it helps with his depression. He said if I bring the portable grill he would buy steaks. That reminds me. I need to fix a dish for the Multiple Sclerosis Christmas party I am taking Wayne to.
Cherie came home for lunch and when I told her about fixing the dish for Wayne she said that was what deli’s are for. That works, never thought of it. It is great to have Cherie to help on this kind of stuff. Wayne is supposed to bring a gift worth $5 or less so I will pick something up for that. I asked Cherie if you can get a gift certificate that low in price and she doesn’t know so I will have to shop around.
It is 12:40 and I am getting tired. The headache is coming. Fred has been asking if anyone has a copy of last Sunday’s paper which has an ad for the Caddy he bought showing the lower price on it. He had asked the newspaper delivery lady to get him one and she said she would see but I know better. I told him I could go down to the library and make a copy of it for him. I’ll do that after the maintenance guy leaves.
The maintenance guy just left. I definitely have a slow down. Took the migraine pill. Still have it. When I was in St Louis, Larry would get me a bottle of whiskey for my pain. Now I know it triggers seizures. Didn’t know what a seizure was then and wouldn’t remember anyway. Hope I get better for this party I am taking Wayne too. The ears are ringing and got that strange sensation on my arms along with the equilibrium thing. Walking is difficult. Despite all that I will go get that copy of last weeks paper for Fred. I will try to make it to Walfart (That’s what I call them) and inquire about gift certificates.
I couldn’t find the ad Fred said he had seen in the Nov 27 Sunday paper. It may have been another day or was missing from the library’s copy. When I came back I told Fred I couldn’t find it. I looked at his paperwork again to try and understand what had happened. No matter how I looked at it, it appears that Fred got screwed. I told him I would make copies and see if I can find someone who could explain this to me so I knew what I was talking about when we confronted the dealership.
I went to Walmart and got a $5 gift certificate for the Christmas party. I called Wayne and told him I was coming so be ready. Picking him up we headed for Kroger where I bought a pail of potato salad as his dish and getting out the directions went out to find this residence. We found the street alright but I couldn’t see any house numbers so I called them on my cell. I was sitting one house away and looking at it when they answered. We were the first ones there, at least I think we were.
We were warmly greeted and welcomed in. The party was in an addition the guy (Sorry, can’t remember his name) had built for his wife who uses a motorized wheel chair to get around.
It was decked out for Christmas and really cool. I took pictures of everyone there but now wish I had also photographed the room. They had some antique decorations and lots of stuff on the windows that surrounded the room affording a marvelous view outside where I watched cardinals and a blue jay eating the bird food put out for them.
I went out to move my car out of the driveway because I knew many of the guests use walkers and wheelchairs and would need room to get out of their rides. As I was doing that a van pulled up. Denise was a passenger and I walked with her to show her which door to go in while her friend parked the van. I am unsure of the relationships of these folks so if they read this I’m sorry if I mess up. More people began to trickle in and the chairs began to fill up. Jill, who has been a great help working to get Wayne some safe housing showed up. She always has this wonderful smile which you can see from her picture.
All of these people amaze me with their spirit in the face of this debilitating disease of Multiple Sclerosis. Denise exhibits the worst symptoms and still keeps trying and laughing. When I see them I am ashamed of whining about my problems. They are incredibly strong, resilient, and brave as they face a future with little hope for improvement. For that matter as they face the next day. You can see Denise in the middle. That is Wayne on the left
I am humbled as I watch these folks talk. They are not dwelling on their problems at all and just enjoy being with friends. Part of me wanted to tell them of the problems I have had from my brain injury but I can’t. I have nothing to say. I sit and learn about strength. I realize that I caused many of the problems I had with socializing by dwelling on my problems.
We had a wonderful dinner and the gift exchange was quit an experience. The gifts had been set under the tree. Some where labeled male or female or not labeled at all. They went month by month calling for birthdays. When yours came up you would pick a gift from the tree or get one someone else had already chosen. No one could open their gift till everyone had theirs. It was great fun. I did not bring a gift figuring the party was for those who had MS and just stayed in the back watching the fun. There were two gifts left when all had settled on theirs and someone pointed out I did not have one. “No, I didn’t bring a gift, I don’t need one” I protested but they would have non of that. The two gifts left were labeled “female” so I said “My wife would like one I guess”.
Hearing that a woman said “Take that one in the box” so I did despite my discomfort. Then everyone opened their gifts. The one I had was too perfect. It was a little doll of a guy with outstretched arms labeled Mr. Wonderful. When you squeezed it’s stomach it would say things like “Actually I’m not sure which way to go. I’ll turn in here and ask directions.” and “Here, you take the remote. As long as I’m with you I don’t care what we watch”. It was good to feel accepted and not judged. Too bad I couldn’t get that at the church Cherie and I had gone too a while ago.
It came time to go because I still had to take Wayne to the grocery store to get his monthly stock up of food. Besides that I was tired and had a hard time keeping up with everything going on. I took Wayne to Kroger and rushed him through as I was running down pretty bad. Now I am home and it is 10:31. Time to publish this blog and go through the ordeal I always do to get the pictures on the blog. Always got to learn how every time. Good night.
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