Violence has visited us recently: A man roamed our neighborhood with a gun, killing innocent people at random, and not far away an elderly woman was killed by a pack of dogs released, perhaps intentionally, by their owner. This reminds me of the times when these things almost happened to us. Until recently, I lived in the gun culture of Texas, where I assumed everyone I knew had a gun–often more than one.
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I intended to post this on Memorial Day, but I’m a bit late, having just gotten back from my little stay in the hospital. But I think it’s still worth a moment of your time.
John Kerry was sworn in as Secretary of State on February 1st, and I feel this is a kind of redemption for the "Swiftboating" allegations that were made against him when he ran for President in 2004.
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I have finally had the staples taken out of my head. (Staples are the new version of stitches.) So I no longer feel like I’m sleeping on a handful of safety pins. I’m also getting used to people trying to get blood samples out of my tiny veins. I am afraid I have a rep among the phlebotomists around here!
I still can see very little in my left peripheral field of vision, but I have added a new ingredient to the mix: hallucinations. I will be lying in bed, when all of a sudden I will “see” a row of people stand up to attention, as if they are having a meeting in some military context.
When you have kids or grandkids, in this day of iPhone photos and videos, you are ALWAYS comparing pictures of the little ones with your friends and the people you meet. And, of course, your kids (or grandkids) are the most beautiful ones of all.
This thought reminds me of being in the hospital and giving birth to my own son thirty-five years ago, when I had a strange disease called pre-eclampsia, which is what probably led to my brain bleed in 2004, because it involves very high blood pressure and weakened a blood vessel in my brain.
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