donforrester1947 posted: " I awakened during the night with the thought that life is good. Since by happenstance or perhaps Divine appointment, our two children were born almost ten years apart. Andrea was definitely a surprise package. Her pending a" Carpe Diem
I awakened during the night with the thought that life is good. Since by happenstance or perhaps Divine appointment, our two children were born almost ten years apart. Andrea was definitely a surprise package.
Her pending arrival was a game changer for us. We had just received the custom designed house-plans back from the architect we selected to design a spacious two-bedroom home for us. It would fit perfectly under the canopy of some huge live oak trees located on the 10 acres of land we purchased from friends on Loop 165 in Henly. It was a perfect setting for us to try our hand at country living.
With the news of Andrea's pending arrival, we discovered how Abraham and Sarah must have felt when they discovered they would be the oldest parents in the PTA. I share all of that to substantiate we were parents of pre-adolescent age children for over twenty years.
During that time frame I discovered somewhere along the way that when your children are doing well, you are doing well. If you have children, I suspect you've made the same discovery.
Graduation from that mindset led to the discovery that when your parents are doing well, you are doing well. It was as though, one experience merged into the next. After our parents were on the other side of eternity, we found ourselves in the midst of considerations involving lots of changes. The whole issue surrounding retirement was wrought with difficulty. Why leave a job you love to then potentially find yourself without something that you enjoy and find meaningful to do?
The General had a much easier time in negotiating that chapter of her life. One day she decided that Austin traffic posed obstacles that created stress for her, so why continue subjecting oneself to that headache? She simply stopped working before retirement age because she didn't want to drive in Austin.
Frankly had I known we would never miss the income, I would have suggested she stop working earlier. She became much more relaxed when she stopped getting up at 4:30 a.m. to get a head-start on the traffic.
What I've discovered over the past year is that when your wife is doing well, you are doing well. Earlier in the week, for the first time in months, the General has seemed like her old self. She is feeling good and she wanted to go to Cat Spring to visit our son and his family before two of the three children leave for college. How could I possibly say "No".
As it turned out, our grandson left for Fish Camp for Texas A & M orientation the day we arrived. We are going home this morning, so we will have to catch up with him later. All is good.
We are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I think the General completes her oral chemo regime in November.
I've talked her into going to a conference with me the middle of September in South Dakota. We've both wanted to see Mount Rushmore for a long time. In addition, the Crazy Horse Memorial reportedly is even more impressive. It is the world's largest mountain carving. Both of those things are own our list to see.
The "bad lands" of South Dakota are reportedly very scenic. The Lakota people dubbed this region "mako sica," or "bad lands," long ago because its rocky terrain, lack of water and extreme temperatures made it difficult to traverse. Today, the Badlands are a great place for hiking, fossil hunting, taking a scenic drive and spotting wildlife.
Life is good. When you wife is doing well, you are doing well.
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