A Hug

I got a hug the other day. The man was picking up adult briefs for his wife with Alzheimer’s disease. She was diagnosed 9 years earlier and she had become incontinent. They had celebrated their 55th anniversary on Thanksgiving Day. “They say, wait for the ‘Golden Years’ but sometimes the golden years never happen,” he said. With tears in his eyes he gave me a hug. What do you say to that? How do we show compassion when my husband and I have celebrated five years and are happy and healthy? We long for the golden years, for retirement, to travel and to love each other for 50 years. Hurts come packaged in ways we hope to never understand.

Goals

I heard that people who write down their goals are more apt to accomplish them…

1. I will love Paul every day
2. I will travel to Colombia with Paul
3. I will travel to England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy
4. I will make a soufflé
5. I will earn a doctorate degree
6. I will have something published
7. I will write vignettes about life
8. I will live forward, I will learn from the past
9. I will learn the meaning and art of compassion
10. I will decorate my home
11. I will take Merengue, Salsa and Mambo lessons
12. I will enjoy at least one Margarita every month
13. I will get my teeth whitened
14. I will drive a convertible—at least for an hour
15. I will learn to be more environmentally responsible
16. I will earn a livable wage—at least for a time
17. I will see “Rent”, “The Nutcracker” and “Wicked” live
18. I will travel to New York
19. I will always learn new things and listen to new ideas
20. I will eat a gourmet meal
21. I will go to a Cowboy’s game with Paul
22. Paul and I will see Baylor play in a bowl game (I hope)

This blog is my attempt at goal number 7. I want to start here and see what materializes…