I hope you dance

 

 

This was sent to me by a cousin, such perfect timing after losing Theresa, I have been feeling very down......
'I Hope You Dance... '

This was written by an 83-year-old woman to her friend.

*The last line says it all. *

Dear Bertha,

I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the  garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.

I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now

I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was.

I'm guessing; I'll never know.

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.

Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

If you received this, it is because someone cares for you. If you're too busy to take the few minutes that it takes right now to forward this, would it be the first time you didn't do the little thing that would make a difference in your relationships? I can tell you it certainly won't be the last.

Take a few minutes to send this to a few people you care about, just to let them know that you're thinking of them.

"People say true friends must always hold hands, but true friends don't need to hold hands because they know the other hand will always be there."

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance

Home

RIP My friend Theresa

 

I received this notice from Matt, Theresa's brother:

My sweet friend, one of my heroes has passed away, she was such a warrior and a champion.......Good bye my friend, may you soar now.

Sadly, Theresa A. Arini (Guarnieri) has succumb to the effects of Pneumonia tonight at 8:42pm. How do you say goodbye to your strongest ally in life, the sister who made your life meaningful? It's like a part of my soul has been ripped away. Please pray for Vince, the husband Theresa left behind. He's a good guy and made Theresa so happy through the years. He will need strength to continue on.

Fall

Well, if this morning is an inking, then Fall is trying real hard to raise it's head.  It was a bit brisk this am and is supposed to be colder tonight.  The problem is it is then going to warm up for a few days...can you say "allergy season"?

Was going to go to the library down at WSU today while Al was in class but my body did no want to cooperate so I am home again today.

Trying to teach myself more computer lessons on software that is so difficult, not to great at this self-learning, very slow at it.

My book writing is somewhat stalled, just trying to get all the information in an orderly manner is taking so much time.  I guess I should not be surprised though there is 40 years of research I am trying to straighten out.

Still sad news about my friend Theresa, no final answer.

Sad Heart

For the past few days I have been dealing with a very sad heart.  My friend Theresa Arini is on life support and her husband Vincent is by her side since it happened last Tuesday.  Things are not looking promising and it so saddens me.  When I talked with her a few months ago we were going to get together after she moved.


I had the privilege to meet Theresa about 15 years ago at a Woman and Disabilities conference.  We hit it off right away and enjoyed our time together.  We kept in touch and after I got my job at at CIL she came in for some services.  Later she got hired at the CIL so we became work buddies.  Both of us had breathing issues, and we both used mobility devices.

We found that our working conditions were fraught with dangers and had a toxic effect on us. There were many discussions on how abusive and intolerant some of the other employees were to other people with disabilities.  The irony was, we were working at at  CIL, we were to be the advocates for those with disability issues.

Theresa had quite a few disability issues to deal with on a daily basis and yet she did it.  She became my  hero and I told her so.  She is 13 years younger than me but since birth had to overcome and deal with life threatening issues.
There was one thing I loved about Theresa and that was her sense of humor.  Sometimes she would wheel into my office and ask if I could but her shoe back on her artificial leg, she could not bend the foot.   She said that some of the other employees wee not comfortable helping her.  A couple of other times she would come into the office and whisper, "could you help me put my leg back on?".  I agreed and we would go to the bathroom, both of us in our mobility units wheeling down the hall, and help her reattach her leg.  Other times she needed some help with her oxygen tanks and I would help her switch them over.  YET, Theresa worked 40 hours a week, and she did so because she loved her work.  
When the CIL made it too toxic for her (and me too), she was devastated, but went on to getting a job with the state, better pay and people.

Theresa was almost finished with her Master's Degree from Wayne State University, she said she just had some funding issues left.  Quite frankly I think WSU should have just given her the degree for living the life she had. 


I found some pictures of Theresa on her FB page and am including them here.....

This is Theresa about 1972............

The Theresa I worked with

 A picture from her sister

When ever I think I have it bad, Theresa comes to mind and I shame myself for feeling pity.  Theresa and Vince travel, have great family and are always active.

A few months ago when I talked with Theresa she expressed her concern that her heart was not doing well at all and that her breathing was giving her grief.  I understood what she was saying and we discussed how we struggled with these issues.  Both of us felt that we were a burden to our spouses and wished that we had easier lives.  I was looking forward to coming up to see her and regret that the summer gave me so much trouble this year.

I have one wish for Theresa and that is she be peaceful and without pain.  I am not sure what God has planned for her, but I know my heart hurts because of her struggles and the pain that Vince is going through now.  My prayers are for both of them.

Two postings

Because I figured I didn't have things hard enough, I decided to have two different places to post on Ebay.  My mjsb50   (http://www.ebay.com/sch/mjsb50/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686) is for my wire work ,my yarn and dolls. 
Then I decided to do my RWR Emporium which is for my findings, cameos and other supplies, so that place I named as RWR3EMP  (http://www.ebay.com/sch/rwr3emp/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686).  I figured it would make things easier for me....now I am not always right in my figgering....time will tell.
But I did manage to get 25 listings up at each site so I think I am getting the hang of things. 
I am finding that the feeling of loss from not being able to go to the shows and enjoy all the people has improved because of all the wonderful remarks I have been getting from people who are viewing my items online.  I still miss the contact of face to face, but don't feel like I have completely lost anymore.  It is wonderful to get some hope back, things have been rather hopeless for us the last couple of years.  


Here are some of the items I put up on RWR3EMP...enjoy

 

Thanks again for all the support, it is greatly appreciated 

Again....really

Couldn't believe it, we came home after an appointment and our power was out again....our neighbors were all out and discussing the frustration.  Turns out that the computer for the electric company shut down the computers because someone had crossed a wire.  The power was out for another 4 hours....we are so dependent on power.

Labor Day Weekend

What a nasty Labor Day weekend for us.  Our power went out on Sat and then when we tried to get our generator to work it would only run for an hour.  I could not use my oxygen as it runs on the geni and I could hardly breathe.  Sat night was hell.  We went out to breakfast on Sunday to try and cool off and so I could catch my breath.  When we got back Al tried to get the geni working but without luck.  We called our friend Earl and he has a geni so he had some ideas.  Thanks to Earl and all his help they got the geni running and I could breathe.  Of course now the weather got cold and damp so we never got comfortable but we figured we were luckier than others.  Thanks to a good friend we got some things to work.
Hoping for a better week for the rest of the week...finally got a good night's sleep last night after the power came back.

It is so funny to me, years ago I would go primitive camping for a week or two at a time, by myself,up north and never even think about having power or electronics.
Now I was enjoying the silence of the neighborhood, but wanted to work on my book and I need power for that.  Times and wants do change as one gets older don't they?

Fun With Al

I have come across some of our fun pictures from Costume Con...Hard to get Al to place dress up but sometimes I can get him to play.....

 I did mama Cass and did not need any padding......

 Together we make music......

 Pretty Loud..............

Hope everyone has a rocking holiday weekend............

Suffering

I think I am suffering separation anxiety,not from a person but from my skills.  As I am listing my artwork on Ebay, I am becoming sad that I can not do the work anymore. So now I am trying to figure out how to continue in my art and crafts, yet not be in extreme pain.  I have been coming up with some modifications to my tools and the type of working environment.  Haven't quite got it right, but as I work it out I will post the information. 

So many artist, writers, secretaries, office people and others who make a living by their hands end up with such disabilities.  I think we just push through the pain because we don't want to give up our jobs, which support us, or our art and hobbies which keep us sane.  Personally I was raise that "idle hands were the Devil's workshop".  Guess I just can't get past that because I can not imagine watching TV and just sitting there doing nothing else.

For me, I can do the written computer stuff with a voice program now, but not the photo editing.  I can still do research and write, but the things that give me the most pleasure have become too painful to continue right now.  I have braces on my hands, magnifiers (which I always used to protect my eyes) and different angled tables. I want to pick up my crochet hooks or knitting needles and get working, it is the season when I started my most active work.

I guess the changing of the season is when my body changes what it wants to do, of course today is way to hot to consider the hand work.......but the cooler days are coming and i am biting at the bit. 


I realize that every day is a gift and I do not want to waste any time bemoaning what I can not do, but I have learned it is okay to have a 15 minute "pity party" sometimes and then move on.

Small World

When someone says the world is getting smaller, I have proof it is. 
While I was looking at my FB page a picture came up of this guy I know as the "Bubble King",  by the way he is marvelous.

Seeing his picture was not so surprising, it was the other person in the picture who surprised me, it was my 1st cousin who I had not seen in over 20 years.  After the initial surprise I showed the picture to Al and he says, that is Chuck, he was my computer prof at OCC.  I looked at Al in shock and said, "well the other guy is my cousin Jon".  We got laughing so hard and just shook our heads in amazement at how small the world is and is getting.

So has anyone else found someone they know in someone else' s picture?

So I have learned to always be in for a surprise...it makes one's life interesting........

Ebay listings

I do not know if I am doing this right, but am going to try it.....can you say learning curve?


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