Yesterday the world heard the news that Dolly Parton had died at 80.
And the world mourned.
Now, sure, maybe Dolly had some detractors, but I’d be hard
pressed to name any. She was kind and generous and loved life to the fullest.
She was talented and giving and so down to earth, you simply had to love her sky-high
wigs and heels and long fingernails and rhinestones.
As a Sparkle Girly myself, I can relate.
Her Imagination Library program has gifted over 300 million
books to kids around the world, inspiring generations of children to learn to
love to read.
That’s a life well lived – and something we should all
strive to achieve.
Sadly, I’m not that talented or rich or inspiring. And maybe
that’s okay. I never did learn to play the guitar and write songs. But I can be
kind and generous and giving in my own little world. Or at least try to.
I was just talking to a friend on the phone this morning –
and we were both feeling a little down. We both lost our husbands – and the
anniversary of hers is coming up. Also, the anniversary of my wedding to Vince
is coming up that same week and I’m sad that he’s not here to celebrate with
me.
And (this sounds silly, I know), the summer is nearly over
and I’ve only been to the Lazy River a couple of times because we’ve had so
much rain this season.
Yeah, yeah – we should all have such problems.
I do try to find things to be grateful about. Like, for
instance, with all that rain we had, I never once lost power here nor did my
basement fill with water with the flash floods Central Ohio experienced. Oh wait
– part of the reason for that is that I don’t have a basement. But
still. Seeing videos of people whose homes and belongings were destroyed by the
flash flooding was awful. And I feel so much empathy towards them.
A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend for lunch and as we were talking about this and that, I mentioned that I was having more hot flashes lately. It was weird and I was surprised by it, but I wondered aloud if perhaps I’d run out of my little over-the-counter supply of Estroven and hadn’t realized it when I refilled my vitamin and supplement container this month.
And then a day or so later, I took Maggie for her late evening
walk. It had cooled down enough that I wore a light jacket over my summer tank.
When we came inside, I realized that it was much warmer inside than outside. So
I looked at the thermostat and it read 79 degrees. Well, I never have my
thermostat set at 79 degrees – summer or winter.
So I bumped down the temperature. Before going to bed, I
looked at it again – and realized it wasn’t cooling off the place and was still
hovering around 79 degrees. The fan was running, but that was about it.
Clearly, it wasn’t working properly.
And then I had to laugh at myself. No wonder I thought I was
having hot flashes! The A/C was on the fritz.
Fortunately, we weren’t experiencing the 90+ degree days
from earlier in the summer. And the repair was done that next day, so in short
order I was cool once again. Another thing to be grateful for.
Last week I went to the eye doctor for my annual checkup. My
vision has been a little “off” and I was hoping for some clarity from him. (Ha.
Get it?!)
Yeah, well, the “clarity” was the news that I need cataract surgery, particularly in my left eye. Yeesh.
So while I knew this day was coming, I hadn’t realized that
the fuzziness in my vision was due to cataracts. I just thought it was time for
a prescription upgrade. No wonder I've had such a hard time reading lately.
But nothin’ like a little cataract to make a girl feel old. So I
have to start that process soon. And I will hope and pray that whoever does
this surgery does a good job and I can see well afterwards.
Last year around this time I was preparing for the Great Knee
Surgery Adventure, aka, The Final Quarter of Pain. To prepare for this, I
crammed all my doctor and dentist and vet visits into the six weeks of August
and early September. So now I’m getting notices and reminders that all these
annual visits are once again due. Sigh. It’s not all that much fun in the Age
of Medicare. Really, it’s not.
But scheduling these visits are a must and I’ve finally
learned the lesson that I can’t just go to the doctor when I feel sick.
Yesterday was my brother’s birthday. Today is my niece’s. Today
is also my brother and sister-in-law’s 37th wedding anniversary. And
my sister and her husband have had a big year – retiring, putting their house
on the market, buying a new one and moving across the country. While we aren’t
celebrating all these events together, we’re all still here and happy to have
reasons to celebrate.
So that’s all good – right?
But then this morning I filled up my 40 oz insulated cup
with water and popped it in the refrigerator to chill for a bit since I forgot
to refill my Brita last night. So a little while ago, when it was time to
switch from coffee to water, I went to the fridge to pick up the drink cup,
fill it with ice hydrate myself for the rest of the day.
Only I dropped the 40 oz water bottle all over the floor. Water everywhere. Turns out, forty ounces is a lot of water!
Fortunately, writing this blog today has made me realize I truly
do have much to be grateful for, and I didn’t react as negatively as I may have
otherwise. I simply pulled out some towels and dried the floor. I washed my cup
and refilled it – and then filled it with ice to cool it down immediately.
Something I probably should have done from the get.
Evidently, one can be in the Age of Medicare and still learn
new lessons every day.
Anyway, that’s a little bit of This ‘n’ That for today. I’m
in a much better mood than when I started. So that’s a good thing. And I hope that
whatever you’re doing today, you’re finding something to be grateful for and
happy about.
Lessons from Dolly.
Until next time, friends…
