BLOGAHOMA

When we let our community learned that Michael’s 95 year old mother, Ruth, was visiting from Ohio for the first time the following things happened…

We got free bed slats from leftover wood (from pouring a concrete foundation) from  Hibbett’s building site to construct a bed (thanks Mike and Lee),

The Cadillac of  walkers on loan  from our Big Rock Neighbor (thanks Vycke),

A custom cake from Mrs. Chadwick’s Bakery (thanks Diane) made in Medicine Park and with free delivery to…

the Park Tavern, who kindly let us have an surprise Birthday Party and set up a table for the cake (thanks Jeannette and Bill), a nice showing and singing of “Happy Birthday” by some of our favorite locals,

and for a grand finale.. a Marauder shoot out scheduled so she could see her son in action (thanks fellow Marauders) reserved shady seating under their tree and mister  provided by Ronny and Cindy of the White Buffalo.

Ruth visit was made special by so many people. A smile never left her face for the days she was here. She will have stories to tell for years to come.

Why we love Medicine Park and the people who make it up.

Desk Top Gizmos Circa 1935

Can someone be born a techie? I believe it’s a genetic predisposition. My father loved tinkering, he took pride in fixing appliances in our house. He marveled at the old inventions as well as the new inventions. My husband’s father having never taken a class in engineering, taught wiring, welding and architectural rendering. My husband who is an artist by profession, also thinks like an engineer.

Gadgets have fascinated me from my earliest memories. many of these that captured my attention were classified office tools like my dad’s stapler, Dictaphone or his humble ticket punch. His AutoPoint mechanical pencil which had a red lead end as well as a blue lead that I took apart and examined and his ticket punch that we used to play conductor. My mother had an egg beater, the manual type, and a meat grinder that once secured to the table, I volunteered to make ham. I prefer using scissors or a paper cutter over and X-Acto knife. I had my share of dolls but I also like my brothers toy gas station with its working car lift. By the time the Etch-a-Sketch made its debut I was too old (or so my parents thought) to have one. I had to wait until have children of my own to get to play with one. Get earned my “great gizmo” seal of approval.

My own son, at the age of 18 months, disassembled the old-style ballpoint pen (the kind you must unscrew to open which revealed an internal spring which enabled it to click) and reassembled it. This clearly indicated excellent small motor ability and a pension for gizmos. As he began to toddle his dexterity was made even more apparent as we found cabinet knobs  unscrewed. By the time he was in primary grades he was asking for things to take apart.  For fear of what he might consider taking apart, my husband, Michael, got a hold of an old motor and let him have at it. Today he is a website manager with expansive skills in website programming. In hands-on mode he has a bike which he is constantly tinkering. He has definitely graduated from taking part to being able to reassemble with aplomb.

In 1985 I have decided that we needed a computer for the home. Not just any computer but one that allowed us to create in color. The Amiga fit the bill and It fulfilled my hunger for all things techie for while. My husband, my son and I taught ourselves computer. One of us would make a discovery and share with the others. We still do this today. The 2 Amigas were followed by a series of Macs. Our children like the children of our generation grew up with computers and are very comfortable with them.

As a family we have a complexity of interests including art, technology, history, music, books, film and so much more. I would say that we mash them together. For instance I collect vintage staplers (I am an inveterate collector) and create art with them is the subject. My son adds music and art on his creative websites. My husband’s websites often include historic and vintage books references.

Among my friends and family, our people adverse to anything that is computerized. I do not try to convert them over to the tech world. I believe,   like many other interests, you either have a propensity for technology or you don’t.

In the month of December before the year was out, we had appliances and electronic equipment breakdown. It all happened within a couple of weeks. Where it began I can’t tell you. It may have been my new smart phone. It just stopped working. I went into my Verizon store and the salesperson (after trying several things) agreed with me I had a defective battery.  Next our printer, not new by any standard, gave out in the middle of our Christmas card printing. We replaced it with a Canon Pixma MG8120.   We did have to wait for it as I ordered it online to get the best price. Some of our recipients got their Christmas card a little late or maybe we should just call it a New Year’s card.  No sooner was that problem solved then refrigerator fan, that had made questionable noises for a long time, gave out in the refrigerator shut down, forcing us to move its contents to our neighbors freezer and our refrigerator items to the screened in porch. Over the next 3 days the repair man, a congenial guy from Mr. Appliance, had to make 3 calls to get  everything working again. Meanwhile my MacBook trackpad decided to stop, altogether, this meant a trip down to Wichita Falls about an hour from us, and several hours waiting. We decided to make the most of our time while were waiting in Wichita Falls lunching at Casa Mañana. Arriving home  we believed,  it was all fixed, but no! The 1st time I tried to export an image via Bluetooth from my smart phone to my computer, I was informed that Bluetooth was not installed! Not that I wanted to see  Wichita Falls again so soon, but we had no choice but to go back. The  Bluetooth in fact had not been connected correctly by the tech (its complicated). It is said that bad luck comes in threes, our breakdowns numbered four. So let’s knock on wood or metal or plastic and welcome in the new year!

At any one time it is not surprising to have peaks and valleys in your life. It is the balance that you come to expect but some years are remarkable for the change that they bring about. One of those years  was 1977. After eleven years in Humorous Planning Department at American Greetings Corp and creating thousands of greeting cards I was ask to draw a ragdoll character, it was to be later to be called Strawberry Shortcake. In 1978 I moved to TCFC (Those Characters from Cleveland) where I no longer drew greeting cards but created toys. We boarded a train that year and took a trip to see the King Tut exhibit in Chicago. My husband followed crafting unique Egyptian themed pieces of jewelry.  It was the year we traveled outside the continent, we flew to England. We became aware of how old mankind was as we visited continuously inhabited places from 12th century, no longer continent bound. In 1977 after a my promotion we moved from a house in Lakewood, OH a suburb I had lived in since 1953 to Fairview Park, a place we would raise our children. That same year our future daughter would be born in Akron, OH. She came to live with us in 1981 when we adopted her.

“You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast”

Forward to 2010. The year Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma came rudely barging in on our life. My husband diagnosed in the summer of the year. Followed by six months of chemo. And now in 2011 struggling with after tremors he is trying to get his feet back under him.

“The carpet too is moving under you”

In 2010 the year my daughter left her teaching position. In 2011, after a year of here and there and helping her dad and helping herself she is actively looking again. She will be landing in a new place with a refreshed sense of self worth.

“Strike another match, go start anew”.

2010 found our son’s thirteen year marriage floundering leading to a separation in 2011. What will follow will assuredly be a changed world for him.

“The lover who just walked out your door,
has taken all her blankets from the floor”

In 2010 my doctor stopped her practice and I moved on to a new doctor. One who prescribed meds to keep my asthma in check. I am back walking in the Park my husband walking along with me. The inclines are harder now but the reason to continue, an insatiable curiosity, still exists.

“Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you”

Note: Lyrics,  Bob Dylan’s It’s All Over Now Baby Blue

Disclaimer: After a 6 month chemo-rama for Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma we’ve learned a few things not gleaned from outside sources these are personal findings. Some are universal other, like I said, are more of who we are.

Chemo-Sabe: I didn’t know what it was going to be like. Was I going to be there for every one of the 24 treatments, 6 reviews with the doctor and 3 scans? As it turned out…. yes. How was I useful? … In an emotional, stand-by-your-man way that counted and and as an extra voice and ear to ask as well as listen.

Friends + Family + Facebook : It turns out that the those that said “we will be there for you” really were, practically for getting us to and from on heavy chemo days but also to ask how things were going and warmly listening. Empathy, prayers, prayer blankets, laughs, good thoughts all counted.

Nurses and Staff at The Leah Fitch Cancer Center of Lawton, OK: Skilled, positive, responsive and caring.

Self Education: Learning all we could about Non Hodgekins Lymphoma, the chemo drugs & their side effects, the blood work and nutrition.

Nook Color eReader: My husband, Michael, got his for Christmas. He is mega reader so he could throw several books on it to read. If he got tired of reading there was crossword puzzles that we completed together, magazine to leaf through on it, or a movie he could watch on it. Note: they do have cable TV in every cubicle but that soon lost its appeal for us.

A Sketch Pad: That was for me. I found I could get lost in drawing and then at the end have something that I could give someone including the nurses on staff.

Fishing Therapy: Monday (and sometimes Tuesday) chemo, Tuesday and Wednesday side effects, by Thursday or Friday Michael went fishing.

Friday night at the Park Tavern: Not for drinking but for socialization.

Rewards: A lunch once and a while, a Medicine Park event, a Marauder shoot out, a cultural trip to OKC for an art show or two.

Not ever losing sight of who we are.