Dear Jan:
You are really struggling with the medication this week. Fatigue, drowsiness, trouble sleeping, but perhaps the most difficult is the effect on your emotions. The whole week was a roller coaster of times of relative tranquility and many bouts of depression. On Sunday, Angela got a glimpse of this change when you told her that it was not worth going living like this, with these effects. I wish there was a way of getting rid of those effects because there are not many other options that you and the doctor have not explored.
On a positive note, I am absolutely impressed with Angela’s loyalty. Single-handedly she organized with Tina the whole event 110 Kms. away! And brought to you the results of the event! Bless her heart! They are the best cousins on this hemisphere!!! (hmmmmm…) I wonder if this could be developed into a lease a cousin operation for those who don’t have a cousin like Angela or Tina. Louise and Sue were also really involved and then all the spouses, children, friends and even neighbors. You have expressed your gratitude to them already, but I take any opportunity to acknowledge their practical love for you. If they read these lines: Many thanks, adoptive cousins and sisters in law. You made the world a better place with your act of generosity. I hope you continue practicing random acts of generosity because that is the only way we have to save the planet.
-Fede
Monday, November 13, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
One step back
After a month of bliss without any medication, Jan had a seizure this morning and we ended up in the ER the whole day. That place is not our favourite one! She was kept under observation and given medication which made her very dizzy. She slept most of the day amidst the noise and chaos of nurses, paramedics and doctors running around patching up broken people. She went to bed as soon as we got home. This may mean the Doctor will put her back on medication. You win some battles, you lose some. The Master knows why this is happening. We are thankful for what she has now and look forward with hope and conviction.
FC
FC
Monday, November 06, 2006
Shall we dance?
It's about family and old friends (and young ones too)! The music and the dancing still resonates in our hearts. Here is one of the wonderful dancer who astonished everyone with her energy.
You can find 110 more pics from the event (courtesy of Julia and David) at:
http://www.dropshots.com/jansbenefit
-Fede
You can find 110 more pics from the event (courtesy of Julia and David) at:
http://www.dropshots.com/jansbenefit
-Fede
Of Roots and Riches
Dear Jan:
I’ve been learning about the depth of parables (short stories). Here is one for you.
A certain man came to the North leaving behind friends and family; mother and father, everything he could call roots stayed behind. He left nice weather, a beautiful country, and generous people and in the process he lost a wife. He wanted to start a new life; he was looking for those things everyone says bring roots, security and happiness into your life. He yearned for friends and a large family that would live around.
This man waited and waited for a long while and almost had given up. Life would have to go on without roots or warm hugs.
The time went by and this man met a woman from the North, a woman who grew up in the middle of snow storms; a woman who was used to the harsh cold and to the warm summer breeze in the afternoon. She also had certain nostalgia for something missing in her life but she didn’t know.
She had a father and mother, a brother and a sister and many a friend around. This filled one side of her heart, but the other side was still yearning for a certain pazzas in her life. She wanted to have someone whom she could love in a special way and be loved in return. It was not that she didn’t have plenty of love, but she needed something extra…le crème de la crème, instead of the old chicken soup for her soul. She wanted to feel her knees rattling and butterflies in her stomach again and again.
They met one spring just before the blooming of the flowers in May. She was wearing long beautiful curls and walked with a gait that made her look five times as tall. She wanted to be healed in her eye but first, she needed to be healed in her heart. He wanted to come home to have conversation and a warm hug full of love.
Summer swelled their friendship a both fell critically ill of love -–it was grown up love, solemn and mad at the same time-- and in less than a blink they went got two rings and found each other dancing at their own wedding, formalizing the link. She sang like an angel, he wrote like a madman, both were ecstatic with the dream of having a shot at a shared life full of love.
But dreams get interrupted sometimes. She became gravely ill and for weeks she walked that thin line between life and death. But it was not her time yet to go with her God. An explosion of blood in her head took away her most precious gifts: her words and her voice. She spent months finding ways to get her words back. He spent months at her bedside learning to trust that the good Lord would bring her back to his side, words and everything.
Much has been said about the mountains of love she received during this time. He found himself surrounded by love from her people and people he didn’t know.
One day, he opened his eyes and was overwhelmed when he saw the deep roots that somehow had grown during these months. He had felt a thousand embraces of love; they have showered the man and his wife with oceans of prayers, hours of visits and good thoughts.
He found himself at the core of the life of a clan. She had taken a long journey to come back to her man. All this time she always knew that her clan walked every step of the way by her side. The roots were hers, as well as the loved ones, but she made them his.
She told him one morning right after muffins and tea: “a man without friends or loved ones is the poorest of the poor. My wealth is my family and friends. All of them are also yours. Now, you are truly a rich man”
-Fede
**************
MANY THANKS! to Angela, Barrie, Tina and the Walton Clan who organized a terrific party for Jan. Your effort is gold in Jan's heart. Our gratitude extends to all those who donated items, money, time, love, prayers, smiles and a good dance for this event. God bless you all!
I’ve been learning about the depth of parables (short stories). Here is one for you.
A certain man came to the North leaving behind friends and family; mother and father, everything he could call roots stayed behind. He left nice weather, a beautiful country, and generous people and in the process he lost a wife. He wanted to start a new life; he was looking for those things everyone says bring roots, security and happiness into your life. He yearned for friends and a large family that would live around.
This man waited and waited for a long while and almost had given up. Life would have to go on without roots or warm hugs.
The time went by and this man met a woman from the North, a woman who grew up in the middle of snow storms; a woman who was used to the harsh cold and to the warm summer breeze in the afternoon. She also had certain nostalgia for something missing in her life but she didn’t know.
She had a father and mother, a brother and a sister and many a friend around. This filled one side of her heart, but the other side was still yearning for a certain pazzas in her life. She wanted to have someone whom she could love in a special way and be loved in return. It was not that she didn’t have plenty of love, but she needed something extra…le crème de la crème, instead of the old chicken soup for her soul. She wanted to feel her knees rattling and butterflies in her stomach again and again.
They met one spring just before the blooming of the flowers in May. She was wearing long beautiful curls and walked with a gait that made her look five times as tall. She wanted to be healed in her eye but first, she needed to be healed in her heart. He wanted to come home to have conversation and a warm hug full of love.
Summer swelled their friendship a both fell critically ill of love -–it was grown up love, solemn and mad at the same time-- and in less than a blink they went got two rings and found each other dancing at their own wedding, formalizing the link. She sang like an angel, he wrote like a madman, both were ecstatic with the dream of having a shot at a shared life full of love.
But dreams get interrupted sometimes. She became gravely ill and for weeks she walked that thin line between life and death. But it was not her time yet to go with her God. An explosion of blood in her head took away her most precious gifts: her words and her voice. She spent months finding ways to get her words back. He spent months at her bedside learning to trust that the good Lord would bring her back to his side, words and everything.
Much has been said about the mountains of love she received during this time. He found himself surrounded by love from her people and people he didn’t know.
One day, he opened his eyes and was overwhelmed when he saw the deep roots that somehow had grown during these months. He had felt a thousand embraces of love; they have showered the man and his wife with oceans of prayers, hours of visits and good thoughts.
He found himself at the core of the life of a clan. She had taken a long journey to come back to her man. All this time she always knew that her clan walked every step of the way by her side. The roots were hers, as well as the loved ones, but she made them his.
She told him one morning right after muffins and tea: “a man without friends or loved ones is the poorest of the poor. My wealth is my family and friends. All of them are also yours. Now, you are truly a rich man”
-Fede
**************
MANY THANKS! to Angela, Barrie, Tina and the Walton Clan who organized a terrific party for Jan. Your effort is gold in Jan's heart. Our gratitude extends to all those who donated items, money, time, love, prayers, smiles and a good dance for this event. God bless you all!
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