Gratitude days 8-11

I've been very lax this year in listing the things I am grateful for.

Tuesday, Nov. 8, my son Don-Mikel. Don-Mike has taken care of my mother for the past 4 years, ever since they moved over here to Aunt Vi's house. He has built the addition to the house. I don't know what this family would do without Don-Mike. I wish he had gone on a mission for the LDS Church, but I think he wondered what we'd do without him too. Tuesday, he called CenturyLink (formerly known as Qwest) to get the link for the internet. Nick got the internet going for me, with the help of Don-Mike.

Wednesday, Nov. 9, modern medicine. Mother had a pacemaker appointment today with her cardiologist. Without the pacemaker, Mother wouldn't be here. When she had her open heart surgery to replace a valve, her heart did not start up. They had to put a temporary pacemaker on. Her heart never did start up & so they implanted a pacemaker that paces 100% of the time. Without modern medicine I wouldn't be here either, nor would my sons. I'd be one of those skeletons with a baby skeleton inside me. I'm a breast cancer survivor & also have had a craniectomy to remove a tumor from my ear canal that had grown so large it popped into the brain cavity & was pressing against my brain.

Thursday, Nov. 10, Talking Books. Mother receives audio books from the Idaho Library's Talking Book Service. She gets some good ones, then she gets some not so good ones & some she doesn't like at all. She also gets Guideposts magazine & the LDS Church magazines, the Ensign, New Era & Friend.

Friday, Nov. 11, veterans.

Thank you, especially my grandfather, Frederick Earl Porter, WWI; my father-in-law, Frank Jay Bartlome, WWII; my mother's brothers, Dorin Frederick Porter & Woodrow Gilbert Porter, WWII; my nephews, Matthew Alexander & Paul Bartlome, my niece Kimberly Bartlome Marriott; cousins, Everett Hudson, Dave Layne; friends, Glen Dutcher, Dave Hicks, Steven Hicks, Aaron Westre, Zachary Joseph Kent in both Desert Storm & Iraqi Freedom. And all the others.

Nov. 27, 1970

Yes, Nov. 27, 1970, 40 years ago today, my sister Wanda Odetta Monson died. She was 10 days past her 24th birthday & it was Aunt Maxine's 28th birthday. I remember I was drinking a can of Dr. Pepper & we were listening to Marty Robbins on her new 8-track player in her hospital room at the Logan Hospital. The old one that was up on the hill kitty-corner across the street from the Logan LDS Temple. Wanda said she had to poo only she used the "S" word. Mother called the nurse & she shooed us out into a waiting room. We heard them calling a Code Blue over the PA system. Mother said she bet it was Wanda. I remember when they came to tell us she had died, my Dr. Pepper spilled & I didn't pick it up. I don't like Dr. Pepper any more. I don't like to listen to Marty Robbins either.

Am I grateful for the advances made in medicine? Yes, it goes without saying. We were told 40 years ago lupus was cancer. People don't die of lupus anymore. Wanda didn't actually die of lupus either, she died of the side effects of cortisone. But her diagnosis was Systemic Lupus Erythematosus or SLE.

Speaking of abbreviations, I have to tell a funny story. Nick & I were talking about Nana, my mother. He said Nana couldn't remember something & I said in all seriousity, "Yes, I know. She has CRS."

He, just as seriously, inquired, "What's CRS?"

"Can't remember $h**!" I said.

"Oh!" he said, "I thought it was something official like that breathing disease she has."

"COPD?" I asked.

"Ya, that. What does that stand for?" he asked

"Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. And then we, you & I, have SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder," I said.

"Whatever," he answered.