Where DOES the Time Go?

It's November 1st.  Man.

This is what has been happening, going backwards.

8. Larry's suspicious mole was BENIGN!

7. Hurricane Sandy. We had lots of WIND, some rain, no power for a few hours and no damage to the house. As you know, others did not fare so well. My cousin in Hastings-on-Hudson downstate lost big oak trees in his yard. One fell in the road taking down power lines and blocking the road and they won't have power for many days.

6. I found out from an x-ray that I broke a bone in my foot when I fell nearly three weeks ago. The crack is between the second and third toes. It hurts! The doctor said take ibuprofen and wear firm shoes so my toes don't bend. What? No cast? No nothing? Suck it up.

5. Larry had the suspicious mole removed.

4. Went to Larry's work party at Oak Hill Country Club. Yeah the one where famous golf tournaments are played. I was intimidated but at least I looked better with my hair that I have looked in months!

3. Fell and broke my toe/foot the same day as the party. I limped around.

2. Enjoyed an OUTSTANDING General Conference.

1. We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. Imagine.

And I'm teaching seminary twice a week!

OH YEAH- I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease after the endoscopy and biopsy. It has been oh so fun trying to figure out what to eat every day. But I can eat.

Life is good.

Another spirit heads to heaven

Larry's mother Lee Etta passed away last week. She was a nice lady. When we built our house in 1993 we added an apartment on so Larry's parents could live with us. It was a good thing!

Lee Etta was born in Avon, NY in 1919. She was the middle of three children. She and Larry's father, (who was also Larry) were married in 1945. My Larry came along in 1946. I asked why they didn't have any more children and she said, "I figured we would only have one and raise him right." She did an excellent job with her one, although she would have done the same with others, no doubt.

In many ways she was a very strong woman, but she also had many fears that limited her enjoyment of life. But if you were her friend, you had a friend for life. She was kind and generous. The picture below is of Lee Etta and us at our 25th wedding anniversary party. She knew that there was no one to throw us a party, so SHE did it! 

The last several months were hard for her. She was failing quickly and we finally had to move her to a hospice home on August 27. She was okay with it. She told me that she knew she couldn't have stayed home any longer and that she was happy there. She lived there 12 days and she passed away on September 8.

The home is called Aurora House. It is a two bed comfort care home for the dying. It actually was a pleasure to go there every day. So much nicer than a nursing home or  hospital. It actually felt like a home.

She passed away peacefully, a year after our little Elbie the Cat died, almost to the day. I think that is sweet.

We lived together for over 19 years. We watched the Yankees together, Nascar and golf, too. We got along great. I'll miss her.

Color Me Happy

Best time of year. By far.

Next.........

The other blood work came back positive for Celiac Disease. My doctor says that if it truly is positive, it will be a major lifestyle change. So he wants me to have a small intestine biopsy to verify the diagnosis.

WHAT?

I'm Italian. I eat bread.

If this is true, I will be eating blueberries the rest of my life. Larry and I went out for some MAJOR DELICIOUS Mexican food tonight, just in case I can never eat it again as long as I live. Or pasta. Or pizza. Or Italian bread. You might as well just lock me up.

Sorry cow. Go away.

SO.






After 50 years, I finally have an answer to my spastic unmentionables.






I'm LACTOSE INTOLERANT.


Such a deal.

After all these years, my whole life actually, somebody decided to test me for it. And the blood test came back with this lovely diagnosis. I knew it because of what happened AFTER the blood test!!

See, you go in fasting for 12 hours and get your blood drawn. Then you get to drink this glass of milk flavored with some orange stuff. It tasted pretty good. Then you wait 15 minutes and get your blood drawn again. Then you wait 30 minutes and get your blood drawn AGAIN. That's three so far. Then you wait another 30 minutes and get your blood drawn AGAIN. THENNNNNNN, you wait 45 minutes and get your blood drawn AGAIN. That is 5, count 'em 5 blood draws in 2 hours.

After the two hours I got to leave. I couldn't get home fast enough, if you get the idea. The next several hours were VERRRRY interesting.

It's kind of funny because even as a kid, I didn't like milk and gave my parents a hard time about drinking it. I was never crazy about ice cream. I do not like yogurt, yuk. Never liked mozzarella on pizza. So the signs were there but I never considered lactose intolerance.

There is hidden lactose in so many foods, (and medicine too.) I need to become a detective and read all labels carefully.

I am so excited about feeling good!! Hooray for no pain. When you've had major gut pain frequently for almost your whole life, it's a lovely prospect.

Goodbye cow.

A Week to Remember

Tuesday May 8, 2012 

Off I went to Salt Lake City with my friend Gail. She went to visit family, and me, well I headed off to the Family History Library to find my ancestors!

These are my grandfather's parents. (Isn't great-grandpa cute? He looks like my father.) The records in the city of Agrigento Sicily are not too good; they are in most cases almost illegible. I knew it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Nicolina D'Amato and Gerlando Cardella, my great-grandparents.  I needed to find his parents.

After an uneventful and pleasant flight to Salt Lake, Gail left with her daughter and I went to the library to begin the search that almost killed exhausted me.

The place where miracles happen.

ANYhow, 

after a couple of hours of getting my bearings and beginning the search, Sister Graham and I went to the temple. It had been 20 years since I had been to Salt Lake City. I had forgotten how incredibly beautiful the temple is. I was SO GLAD to be there!

Wednesday May 9

Poured through microfilms. Prayed.

Thursday May 10

Poured through microfilms. Prayed.

Friday May 11

Poured through microfilms. PRAYED.

Despite finding clues during my search and having invaluable help from my pal Mary Anne Graham, I got very discouraged. I knew the Lord had sent me there to find this family but after thousands, hundreds, MANY hours of searching, every muscle in my body ached. My eyes were blurry. I was hungry, thirsty and tired every day. Mary said to me on one of those days, "You still have time." My impatience was getting the best of me.

Sometime during those days, (they are a blur to me) we went to the new City Creek Center for lunch. We walked through Temple Square a lot. We went to the new Deseret Bookstore which knocked my socks off. Being on Temple Square was good for me and kept me focused although I was discouraged.

One day I talked to Larry about it. My body was SO sore. He gave me beautiful advice. He said, "Why don't you pray for endurance?" I thought of the pioneers. If they could walk across the country, I could sit at a microfilm reader.

After Mary was done with her shift at the library Friday, she sat with me and we both looked through films. About an hour before closing time Friday night I heard her softly call my name. I looked at her and she said, "I found them." I buried my head in my hands and thanked God for endurance and a good friend who helped me.

Saturday May 12

Relief! I had much more research to do but I wasn't frantic. We walked to the Blue Iguana for a grand Mexican lunch that was a much needed break. Loved it!

Saturday night we went to the Conference Center theater to see Alex Boye, a member of the Tabernacle Choir. He does shows and tours the country. I thought he would sing choir type songs and be all reverent. Boy was I wrong! The guy is a comedian and sings all types of songs. It was a fabulous show!! He tells his life story too, about joining the church as a kid and going on a mission. Just the best.




Sunday May 13

We started out at the Tabernacle to see "Music and the Spoken Word." I was astounded at the whole production. I had never heard the choir in person so what a treat THAT was!  But for the program, the Tabernacle turns into a recording studio because the program is broadcast all over the country, maybe the world. LOVED IT!

That's me in the Tabernacle after the program. Man, those grandma arms are killin' me.

THEN, highlight ater highlight, this trip was the best. I got to meet my friend of four years for the first time! We were so excited to meet each other! 

Me with my darling friend Katrina. We met through her blog and became friends, hoping we could meet each other someday. This is Sunday morning in front of the Church History Museum. 

So we were happy and looking forward to a great day together. She drove me back to her home in Saratoga Springs where I met her husband Nils, (such a great guy with good manners!) He made us lunch while I got acquainted with the kiddos, Anders, Addie, Aani and Ava. AND their stuffed animals! We walked to church together, listened to great Sacrament talks, had cake in Relief Society for a Mother's Day treat, admired the view of Utah Lake and walked back home. Then we had dinner at Katrina's mom's home where I got to meet a bunch of her family. Great stuff. Check out this picture taken by Nils.

In the front is Aani. Next to her is Addie, Katrina is holding Ava and I've got Anders trapped. Love this family.

I hated saying goodbye to them. But maybe they will come out to New York someday and I will sure be going back to Salt Lake. There is too much work to do at the library not to. And who knows? Maybe we will serve a mission there someday!


Monday May 14

Back to the library for research on Larry's family. NOT enough time! I did take a lunch break to wander around the museum for a while. Loved that, too. Research, dinner at Mary's, talk on the phone, and pack. I felt incredibly blessed and sad to be leaving. Yet I missed Larry and was glad to be going home.

This trip opened my eyes to the power of prayer once again. It also made me want to go on a mission with Larry soon! Like before we are too old and decrepit.


Tuesday May 15

HOME!

Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive, Ah Ah Ah Ah

See? I'm not dead. Just out of energy for a while. I think I need a tune-up.

We had a visit from this guy last week- my boyfriend Jayden.

and his mom, our church daughter Trisha.

Dad had to stay home in Kingman, Arizona and go to work.

Since our home is not baby proof (!!) we had a great time preventing our boy from climbing stairs and eating books and falling down the stairs etc....

Larry got to be a grandpa!

We had fun and we miss them.

That was the good part.

The terrible thing that happened is that my friend of over 25 years Linda Witt, succumbed to the oral cancer she had battled for eleven years. Her husband Gary was our friend who died four years ago from a heart attack.

That's Linda (on the far right) in happier times, coming home from "Time Out For Women."


I'm getting tired of so many special people in my life dying.

Whoever you are that is reading this - stay healthy!!!

Thank you.