Accepting Disability

Congratulations! By now you and your loved ones as well as the medical profession, are all on the same page. I would not interfere with or suggest that I know how or why you reached this mile stone in your life, but I understand as you must have, that we each have our own path to take when reaching this point.

If you have followed my posts, then you understand as I do, that I cannot write about the disabled through mental illness, severely brain-damaged, catatonic, or severely paralyzed as, I, just like you, have never experienced this type of disability. Just as there are stages in cancer or heart disease there are also stages in disability. Sometimes, especially with injury, it is a very slow progression, if it progresses at all, and with others, that include disease, it can be fairly rapid. I do believe it is safe to say though that regardless of the disability, unless we have reached the mental state of acceptance, none of us do totally understand how we will react or respond a year from now.

I hope that by talking about my own experience then, I can help you discover,as I have, that the mind needs to be in the place of acceptance in order for the body to respond accordingly. When I reached the point that I understood any further testing would simply update medical records and bring no further relief or change of treatment to me and that.” it was what it was,” then I understood,I was left with nothing further than accepting what I could do and what would be very painful to do.

I began my introduction to the idea that things would never be normal in my life, as I had planned it, when my body was sending out all kinds of warning signals that seemed to be untreatable but at the same time was raising my blood pressure. Along with the disabling disease that caused a great deal of pain, I was reacting to the treatment. Our children were still quite young as I was only 28 years of age, and initially I could not distinguish between symptoms of what ailed me, versus symptoms of drug reactions. It is extremely difficult to do, especially when the diagnosis is inaccurate or someone has deemed themselves God in our lives, and decided to withhold the truth from us, by playing down our symptoms when we ourselves already are experiencing debilitating pain.

I went through all the emotional upset and trauma that we all go through as I had always had the attitude that it would be easier for me to die than to be disabled. I, like everyone else, had heard of,” all the miracles of modern medicine” so it came as a shock to me that medicine could not cure everything much less not be able to treat everything. Just like you, I asked the question, “why me” until I was able to answer it with “why not me?” All kinds of mistakes were made by me and those around me, and I definitely suffered dark periods in my life. Whenever they attempted to treat one area of my body then it would throw off another system of my body. This is quite common in treating the central nervous system.

Many times I had to complain for several years before I was taken seriously about my complaint once the Dr.s did get the diagnosis correct. There was a real sense of, “we can’t do anything about her complaint so lets find something wrong elsewhere and get her to concentrate on that.” I would advise everyone prior to having surgery of any type to ask if it is elective or mandatory for the condition in which you need relief. It took me much too long to see past this ploy, I’m afraid.

In short it was a helluva place for me to be as I tried to protect my loved ones from it and never spent a day in bed outside of when I was hospitalized. I went ahead and took care of my own responsibilities along with most everyone elses, other than my immediate family who understood as they lived with me, until I reached the point that to push myself any harder was very destructive to both myself as well as my longevity.

Still today I will go ahead and do something that causes a great deal of pain like refinish a piece of furnish just in order for me to understand that if I had effective pain treatment I would not be physically disabled. Effective pain treatment at this point would definitely put me into an almost catatonic state due to the increase of the necessary amount of drugs it would take to allow me to operate pain-free and under normal ability. Sadly, I am allergic to the standard form of treatment for my particular disease.

At the very least, abusing or increasing substantially, the only drugs available to my treatment themselves, would lead to mental confusion,anxiety and depression, if not cause early death, so I gladly live with the pain treatment that dulls pain if I do little to nothing. I can still determine to what length of time and rest I can take and still feel well enough to enjoy my life. I plan on staying in charge of my brain since I do have less and less to say about my physical abilities and must use the necessary aids available to me.

With all diseases, there are good days and bad days. My best days will always be the days that I can accomplish doing some of what I want to do. Many times because I have developed interests in oil painting,collecting,reading,genealogy,research and writing I can have a terrific day doing very little according to Society’s point of view, and still be relatively pain-free, as well. I can do most hobbies upwards of an hour a day. Most of us will learn that we have never really done what it is that we truly love doing, prior to our injury. At this point it is all about keeping my mind healthy to both concentrate, learn, and to becomes less dependent on the pain treatment.

I understand that on days that I want to do something I will pay the price in pain but I prefer doing it, to being waited on by a caregiver and being bed or chair bound permanently, due to the fact that my mind has been lessened as a result of pain treatment. Since pain is no longer relieved by rest my tolerance to pain has built naturally over the years. There is a real danger with Doctors either under-treating or over-treating with pain medication so make sure, you yourself, knows the difference.

Long story short, it is my hope that all of you can and do reach the point that you have cried your last tear, yelled out of anger and frustration, for the last time, and found genuine peace in the things that you can do. I hope you find real joy of waking up each day knowing that you and only you are still in charge of the areas in your life that matter the most.

I hope you never question or listen to what people who have never experienced your level of disability have to say on the subject.(unless they are medically or spiritually trained to offer relief or peace of mind or are kind enough to act as your caregiver and to listen to you) I hope you have found a Dr. that will be honest with you and help when you do ask for help. I hope you know to celebrate and rejoice in what you can do and no longer grieve what you can not do.

I hope you have learned the value of this moment,hour, day and see the beauty in each day. I hope if you require a caregiver and still have responsibilities that you do not ask others to do what you can still do ,yourself. I hope you have a good imagination that allows you to figure out a different way of doing the same thing that you use to do and have learned patience in doing so.

I hope you get a genuine”kick” or “hoot” out of life and count your Blessings for being a part of the human race, regardless of what the ignorant or ill-informed seem to think or believe to the contrary. I hope you despise sympathy and understand and empathize with others who have less than you do. But most importantly of all, I hope you do know your own strengths as well as your own limitations, and have a support system that applauds you for knowing the difference. If that includes no one more than yourself and a good book and you still know the joy of waking up each day, then you have made it, my friend. I do know it is all possible with the right attitude, just as you have already learned, yourself. Congratulations! I’m proud of you!

Read Full Post »

Disability Before Acceptance

The in-between stage, from the shock to acceptance of disability, can be and often is a time of turmoil. Even if family is slow to accept or the medical profession itself is not responding to our symptoms, most of us find that we can not deny those strange things that are happening to us, in our own bodies. The next big step is in the frustration of getting family to accept it. In some cases where it is disease over injury, just getting the medical profession, itself, to understand can be an equal frustration.

I recommend family get all the necessary help and opinions that are available to them, as well as research on their own, so that they can understand the disease as well as ask questions based on the same. This is not a time to hide behind denial, manipulation, or intimidation, as the sooner we react the better the results will become, in many cases. Doctors,as a rule, will be slow to volunteer any information unless we do ask the questions.

Once we do get over the shock of understanding that so little is still known or understood about the central nervous system (the system most effected by disease or injury that leads to disability) then we understand a bit better why the answers are not coming. Any of us that do deal with chronic disease or injury get a quick lesson in,” the lesson of cause and effect”, because the medical profession is still leap years away from understanding or knowing what does cause most diseases.

I have had Doctors who leave the room and send in the nurse without answering my questions when I do ask questions and have been yelled at for asking them,told there was something going on in my own environment causing it, treated like it was hopeless so why bother, lied to, and heard a lot of, “we simply do not know the answers.” If your Doctor is not forth coming with answers or explanations, then get another opinon. Doctors, themselves, many times get frustrated and their behavior or bedside manner can add to the already difficult position that many of us face. People react differently to stimulus or answers and because Doctors treat on averages instead of individuals, many times the treatments themselves are either ineffective or can jeopardize our health further.

We all reach our level of acceptance with trial and error and many times feel very lonely in the process. People as a general rule can be insensitive, rude or very unkind as well as reverse and become terribly understanding. Do not give up on them, but if it is necessary to put distance in between, then do so. It is a time to surround ourselves with a strong support system or to accept that we are in it for the duration.

Just a note, to the people who will set themselves up to be caregivers or inherit the job. The more you accept the fact that the disabled person needs to test and find out their own abilities and or limitations the easier it will be for both of you. Many times caregivers will baby or accuse the disabled person out of their own frustrations and this only adds to an already difficult time. For the most part the more normal we make life the better the results. If it is a child that needs to be taught right from wrong then teach them the same as you would the rest of the children in the household. Even if it requires repeating and repeating it is important, regardless of the disease or injury, they learn to behave. It clearly will add to the difficulty, but disabled children that grow up to not understand their own responsibilities to society, often times become a further statistic.

With time and a lot of communication and many wonderful people to compensate for the jerks that exist in all “walks of life” when it comes to disability,everything is possible. Hope for the best while preparing for the worse and the results can often times be amazing. We must base that on the accomplishment of the disabled and the functional ability of the same.

Do not get caught up on who can do what or think age matters as many times it does not. Nothing will teach gratitude, acceptance of the unknown, release of fear and knowing and understanding our own priorities in life, more than what the lessons that currently lie ahead of you will teach. Good luck and do not misplace your direction, but expect to fall off the path a time or two, as it is expected and normal to do so.

Read Full Post »

Power Chair Versus Electric Scooter

When the time came that I was no longer willing to depend on being pushed in a regular wheel chair in order to maintain a length with normalcy, I was sent to the physical therapist by my Doctor to be measured for a power chair. Naive as I was, I did not know or understand the options available to me so I will try to educate those of you that are in the position I was in.

My particular disease will allow for sporadic walking, currently. This means I can walk to a table and be seated or go through a small antique store or do limited walking and standing with a cane, and with the knowledge that I have to be willing to suffer pain and discomfort in doing so. Due to injury to my arms as well as my legs as a result of both lower and upper spine deterioration, I am not able to use the large wheeled hand-operated wheelchair that I can empower myself. I would definitely encourage this mode of transportation for those that still have upper body strength as muscles that are not used are lost.

I have since learned more about the availability of what I like to refer to as toys available to the disabled and will give you my take on both. Unless you get a foldable power chair that will break down or fold up and be placed into a trunk of a car you will need both a van and a lift of some type to put the chair into the van. In my case since I and my husband both are taller than normal, it required a custom van that would allow for standing. Regardless of the type of lift you do get, they have not yet perfected them to run consistently with the doors opening effectively each time. If you go this route, you soon learn to only enter or exit on a flat service, for more operable use of both.

Although I have never had the foldable or take apart power chair, I have checked into them and tried them out but found, in my opinion, for them to be fairly cheaply made and the price difference reflects that. Power chairs when recommended by Dr.s are paid for by the Insurance Companies. Medicare rarely if ever pays for them. The other large difference between the foldable light weight power chair and the regular power chair, is the lack of speed and power to both climb and dislodge from ruts, since in order for the light weight chair to be loaded by hand. it takes considerably smaller batteries to run.

A typical power chair that needs a lift weighs in at approximately 250 pounds due to larger and heavier duty batteries, whereas a portable or foldable one can weigh as little as 40 pounds. I applaud the power chair business that works with the medical field in developing the power chair as I have had little to no problems with the standard chair that requires a lift.

Scooter companies, I also own a scooter, works as a retail outlet and it becomes important that we understand like all retail companies there are good and not so good ones. Check out a consumers report site or magazine on the ones ranked the best before buying. Although there are also foldable and breakdown (can be taken apart without tools) in the scooters they also have the same power deficiencies as the power chair when it comes to both power and speed, when they are of the light weight variety. Scooters with three wheels will turn in a smaller circle than with the 4 wheels but they also are more susceptible to upsetting if turned too sharply.

If we want to use our chairs and scooters outdoors on more rugged terrain or on a beach the standard size chair and scooter are going to be a must. If you only need a scooter or chair to shop or enter casinos,businesses or Church then the foldable or break-apart will perhaps suffice, but I repeat that they do not have the power to pull or become dislodged from what sometimes is nothing more than a small rut and they can not be pushed beyond the power of the battery to pull itself out of the hole.

The standard power chair will meet all requirements for any need for the disabled but the aggravation of trying to get a lift and automatic doors to respond can be and is a consistent problem when using them. We have had to remove both bolts and carry a rope in order to tie doors shut or to crank in the lift. This is simply something that most disabled people are not capable of doing since most of us cannot bend sufficiently,get up and down off of a floor, or are paralyzed. I would also warn that all power chairs have hollow tires with tubes much as a bicycle and they can be or are punctured by nails,Texas sand burrs, glass etc. The scooters are solid rubber tires and do not ever go flat.

I much prefer the power chair to the scooter as they do turn on a dime and can get in and out of places a scooter will never be able to get in and out of. I was fortunate that I was steered to go that direction first. The custom van (some people may be able to make a standard van work) will run between $55,000 to $60,000 and this is money a great many people simply do not have. There is State aid of some type, I did not look into it, for the lifts but we are all on our own to raise the money for our vans.

All scooters, even when they are not advertised to be, are able to be taken apart, as a rule. They are idea to do outdoor activities as they can be both hand loaded when taken apart in 4 easy pieces, and have both fairly good power and speed if they are of the more heavy-duty type. Since the tires are made of solid hard rubber they never go flat. They are not covered by health insurance, as a rule, and need to be paid for out of our own pockets.

They are much less expensive and need a wide berth to turn, especially when using the four wheel. If we try to shop with a scooter we will need to be prepared to back up when there is traffic in the aisle as versus turning around as we can with the chair. The scooters however, are able to get in and out of a single door easier that the power chair. For the most part, the scooter is more of a transportation need and requires far less dollar output but is not to be mistaken for use where medical requirements are needed for the use of a chair.

Since it does not require the same level place to both load and unload due to the fact that there is no lift required, I much prefer taking the scooter on vacation with me, and using the power chair for shopping. It is a personal choice on my part.

I still use strictly a cane or canes while in and around my home, with the advantage of carrying a lightweight stool, and recommend that everyone that can, devise a system for themselves, that will give them better ability to develop over-all muscle strength, when possible. Any time spent out of both the scooter or chair will prolong our own ability to perform for ourselves as well as others, when possible, as well as maintain our own independence. Although both the electric scooter and powerchair will give us much more freedom outside of our homes and enable us to live more independently from requiring help from others. I hope I have offered you some help here, as I found very little to none, when I needed to know the difference.

Read Full Post »

Love At First Sight–Is it Real?

I have my doubts about it but I know many do believe that the minute he or she walks in the room they will lock eyes and fall madly in love. The experts have said over the years that when we marry we marry the person that is most like ourselves and others say we all marry our mothers. Some believe that marriages are pre-ordained in heaven and others believe in Kismet. Many people talk about the chemistry being right. It has been Scientifically documented that couples do have a percentage of scents that do attract us to each other.

I personally think that people will drag their heels when it comes to marriage and at the point that they do feel like they are ready to marry, a person will walk into the room, and they confuse the person with the idea that they are in love with being in love and that is what leads to love at first sight. To repeat then, when we are ready to marry we sometimes confuse the idea of marriage with the person who appeals to us and that is what often times leads to the idea that it was love at first sight.

When marriage is used as a reason to escape a situation we are presently living, in our youth, then it is likely to fail. It is a marriage based on convenience and many times it is only for the convenience of one of the couple. When both share the need to escape then it may last awhile longer but marriages that are based on needs and fail the expectation are very hard to maintain. Many times people romanticize the idea of marriage to the point when someone does cross their path that is pleasant to their eye they are ready to announce their intent to marry the same person. Older couples sometimes will marry out of convenience and those marriages do seem to last as companionship is a very important reason for many when they age.

People are more set in their ways when they get older but at the same time, they are more comfortable with who they are and more accepting of their own blemishes as well as the other person’s less than perfect projectory. Relationships based on mutual need for intelligent conversation, combined incomes, and for health reasons will work later in life when the stresses of child rearing and making an income are behind people. To me that is what explains the reason we all know people who marry and divorce numerous times only to eventually settle down with a person who they share the rest of their life with, finally content in their search.

Since this is strictly my opinion and based on nothing more than that I understand that the romantics will reject it. Many will go on looking for that magic moment only to be disappointed when it does not happen and only end up feeling as though life cheated them. Others will have the moment and marry only to feel disappointed when the person they choose cannot keep the moment going. At that time, they many times, then announce that they no longer love each other, and move on to others to find someone else to replay this magic moment while still confusing it for love.

It has been my experience, however, that people who do claim to find love at first sight many times are hopeless romantics and because of that they are looking for the person that will fit their perfect picture of their idea person, and when they do, they profess love for the same. Many of them read way too many romance novels in junior high or watched one too many soap operas. I have never been really impressed by the statement, “we never argue” because too often when they do it seems to end with a doozy.

I know I did not truly know the definitions or essence of real love until many years after I had experienced it with the sacrifice that my husband and I were willing to do and make for each other. Being a parent can often lead to immediate love but even then we have 9 months to prepare for and to bond with the idea of a child coming. All babies are beautiful to their parents even when realistically the rest of the people are thinking it is a real stretch to call a new-born baby beautiful.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder and sometimes also in the heart of the beholder so we see love when we choose to look for and find it in some cases and in other cases love will enter our life when we are more realistic and more ready to accept love when we quit looking for a dream that no one can live up to.

I base my findings strictly on my opinions and experience as that is where most people derive their thinking. Good luck in whatever it is that you believe in. It will be much easier if at first you take the time to love yourself, in my estimation. People that cannot love themselves are going to have a difficult time in finding someone else to do it for them on a permanent bases. Also remember it is very rare when people do love themselves they find it necessary to brag about it.

Many times the more we brag about it the more insecure we are and the more we are trying to convince ourselves of our love. In short action outweighs all conversation. It is when we truly love, we will show our love, by the way we treat others. People in love will sacrifice for the well being of each other as well as for their own present and future dreams. When we only take from life is when we will never learn to love.

Read Full Post »

The Privilege Of Being Grand

So seldom in life does a happening come along to promote us to the level of Grand so easily. When it comes and to deny ourselves of the privilege of being so is something I will never understand. Too many times people will refuse this opportunity with the argument of “I raised my kids, I am not now going to raise yours” when the simple request is nothing more than taking out a little time to bond with the very person or people who will make them Grand.

Of course, I am talking about being a grandparent and the joy that comes with telling our children “Have Fun” or “Have a nice Trip” while they entrust us with the pure privilege to babysit with these darling little innocent human beings that are for the most part in awe of us and struggle their best to be on their best of behavior as Grandma and Grandpa are just about the hottest stuff going in their lives. It’s not a privilege that we automatically are entitled to. It is the right of their parents to grant it to us. It requires that we listen and do not criticize their goals. Very easy to do when we value the weight of the privilege they grant us.

To sit back and watch Mom and Dad feed, change diapers, bathe our grandchildren while we criticize them and their intents, is not bonding with these precious little people. Sure I hear the arguments that I am too old or too sick or if the parents would just wake up as well as the ridiculous about raising their children but if you ever did make an effort to really take the time you would find a whole world filled with nothing but joy.

I watch my husband who was so busy establishing our future when our children were young and I marvel at just how good of a father he would have been if he had, had the time then to be a father to his children that he now has to be a grandfather. I think in many ways the same is true for we mothers if we hadn’t always have felt the stress that goes along with being the disciplinarian and the one that would get the blame for life if the child rearing failed. So many will take the credit when they succeed, and in some cases they are entitled to, but one thing every mother can count on in our stereo typical society, she will get the blame when it fails.

In short it is another chance to follow someone else’s rules at the same time to put our own special touch of “It’s a Grandparent thing” onto the lives of these precious little people. I use both a cane, require a wheel chair and certainly could not do everything without the help of my husband but I still throw out all the excuses and find, with my trusty stool ever-present, I can make special grandma meals and treats, change a diaper, read a story, give them a ride in my power chair while we grocery shop and the list goes on although I no longer have a spine that isn’t effected by disease from the brain stem to the tail bone that began some 30 plus years ago.

I know what you are saying with the excuses but I also understand that they are excuses. Giving up 10 days of sleep, enduring more pain and discomfort, listening and doing as our children wish, and letting go of our own control for a few days is nothing along side of the true Blessing we receive bonding with these hero worshipers of us.

We are the one people in their lives that can spoil them rotten and not worry what it will do with their future success if we are smart enough to limit it, while both respecting and appreciating our children’s’ boundaries. For one magic moment, we ourselves, along with these little people do know that there is truly a Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and tooth Fairy and they are all made possible through our power alone when we share our “grandparent privilege”. Every child deserves a hero so why not us while it lasts? We all know, or should, that the minute “Mommy ” and “Daddy” walk back through the door and arrive home following an absence, we will be replaced but just for that while we were someone’s hero.

Please know that it is not only your grandchildren that lose out with your attitudes , it is also you that miss out on the privilege of being “Grand” when you come up with the ever-present excuses.

Read Full Post »

Birthdays and How they are Best Spent

I have a special reason for this subject as today is another birthday for me. Each year I become more grateful for each one I get. I don’t know what it is about some of us, especially mothers, but I’m sure I’m not the only one that spent most of my life celebrating everyone else’s birthday and only started celebrating my own, as an individual, in the manner that I most enjoyed, later in life.

I never got the special tie in about the significance of my own birthday. As I have said before, I was struck with health problems earlier than most, in my younger adult years.(I was in my late twenties when the symptoms first showed up) During the years of confusion, before the Dr.s got a handle on what my diagnosis was, there were many exaggerated predictions, about the point of my longevity. If anyone can relate to this, then they know what I’m talking about.

Young adults’ health is never seen as much as being genectic as it is looked at as being lifestyle and stress related. As a result of this frame of mind, years that would have changed my prognosis, went ignored and led to my being physically limited for life.

Nothing in life is ever so dire as those first days of realization, that life as we planned it, is never going to be in our hands, alone. We all believe that bad things happen to other people and certainly not us. It was during this time, then that I really learned to appreciate the real value of another year and found pleasure in just the fact that each year was a gift from above.

To celebrate my birthday was never necessary, as just being alive was a true gift, that was unexpected. It was much later that I realized that one of the Blessings of being alive was to be able to make the day special as well. The thing that I most enjoy over all my other interests, is travel. Although it has never been really verbally acknowledged by me, travel has always been my way to rejuvenate myself from the same old same old. It is very easy to get into a rut where one day looks just like the next.

So now that I REALLY celebrate my birthday I use it to plan my next trip. This year I am proud to say that our youngest daughter has bought her own home, as a single woman, without any help from us. I cannot wait until the weather changes, if it ever does, and my husband and I are able to get through the passes and head to Portland, Oregon and at long last celebrate with her, her accomplishment of hard work and due diligence.

I have no doubt that if I had not been stricken by the reality that life is not our’s to always control and that it can and is limited that I would not have learned to count my Blessings and let the negatives go. For what I lost in life I have gained so much more. My husband and I have celebrated 40 years together. Our marriage has gotten stronger as has our love over the years instead of weaker. Both of our daughters graduated from college with our oldest daughter also getting her master’s degree and they have been self sufficient young women. They are without a doubt, my best friends. We all have an open relationship based on our ability to speak out and resolve issues without pretense. My oldest daughter has the ability to choose to stay home with her children thanks to the support of my very wonderful son-in-law who is also a college graduate. They like my youngest daughter bought their own home with no help from us and have provided us wiith two of the BESTEST ever little grandsons.

I have learned to really celebrate my birthday because it is a special day for all of us to renew our own intentions and to be grateful for the life so many of us take for granted. Wouldn’t it be wonderful though if all of us, before we lost our health, would live each day as it may be our last. When I hear people being bitter as a result of losing their health, my heart goes out to them as we all must grieve that loss when we are faced with it. It is only when we use that as our only goal in life to gain sympathy or to play helpless that health loss has to become a negative. There is always hope and even under the most difficult situations we can still accomplish goals of value, as long as we never give up. We just learn to do things differently from what has been normal in the past.

My wish then for everybody that can deal with the reality that we all will die someday, so why not live everyday as if it is our last day, learn to be positive. It is as easy to look at what is right in our lives as it is to be negative about what is wrong in our lives. If depression stands in the way of your being able to be happy then do both yourself and loved ones a favor and get medical help. Do not wait until you have no choice but to think positive, in order to survive. It really isn’t as bleak as it seems. We would treat everybody in our life better and enjoy every second of the day and do the things we always wanted to do if we knew it was our very last day. In my opinion, that is how birthdays are meant to be spent. I wish you all “adieu” as I go do just that!

Read Full Post »

So is there any better feeling?

Sorry, if you were maybe expecting this to be about sex. Hate to disappoint you folks! What I’m talking about is a bargain! No matter our financial situation in life, I think most people will agree with me, that finding a bargain ranks right up there with winning the lottery. It is a real andrenaline rush for most of us.

So, Hubby and I quite often take little road trips, on weekends, to different places and different States. As I mentioned before, we are well located. Don’t let the older people fool you. Marriages that last can still be exciting, well maybe not in the way your thinking, but there is a lot of life left yet, after the kids leave home. There definitely, is a life after 40, 50, 60, whatever age you are when they do leave. If you had a good marriage before the kids, and didn’t treat each other, like they were your worse enemy, or go into a thirty year pout, life is never better!

In a lot of ways I was lucky for having crippling arthritis in my late twenties to early thirties, as there is nothing like young children to keep us on our toes and jumping through the hoops. Now that everyone else is reaching the age, of physical health loss, that I was 30 years ago, I am an old pro.

No time here, for that bitching and moaning that drives us all nuts. We grow old as we grew young, and life is nothing more than an attitude, so if you know now that you are responsible for your own happiness, it can’t help but get better. However, if you get some kind of high out of playing the victim role, then I’m sorry, you need help. People SHOULD NOT crave sympathy!

There I go digressing, again. We picked Pierre, S.D. to explore today. Hubby was looking for a double pump action rifle. NO not to use on me. He is a life long hunter. I have collected antiques for 40 years and where ever we go, I check out antique shops, or thrift stores or pawn shops. Today I found a lovely, large size coral and detailed gold ring. At the time, I wasn’t too certain of the coral and neither was he but it definitely is marked 14 carart gold.

I brought it home and took a look at it under my special light, after cleaning it of course, and sure enough it is the REAL thing. Probably a $1800.00 ring, because of the size of the coral, as well as all the detail in the generous amount of gold, all for the grand price of $40.00! It made my day, to say the least! Have a nice night everybody!

Read Full Post »