A Week In Which I Learn Several Things

Life is full of little moments of learning. Sometimes those learnings are not of great import. But sometimes they are.

I learned this past week that three people can clean a garage in a little over an hour. (This was a one-car garage so perhaps yours may take longer!) We bagged up stuff for the Goodwill. We bagged up stuff for the curb. We hope we bagged up all the spiders. No, not to the Goodwill; to the Curb!!!

I learned that family is family. Even if they've been lost for 25 years. During April and May we had visits from long lost family members. During both visits we shared old family stories, old photos, old places that were important to their father when he was growing up. It was a good time for us and I believe for them as well. What a blessing from God to all of us!

While cleaning out our fridge I found a cellophane bag of lettuce. Very old lettuce. Hidden well behind something else. Hidden for a long time. I learned that bagged lettuce of certain age simply turns to liquid. It was pretty ugly! That bag traveled very speedily from the fridge to the trash. Ughhh!

We learned that some hospitals, even highly rated "teaching" hospitals, can fail to live up to their reputation. Thursday, Hubby went in for two days of testing. The staff flubbed royally and failed to instruct him to fast (and failed to instruct kitchen staff as well) for a biopsy to be taken on the second day. The biopsy had to be postponed until Monday. We'll be making a second trip to the Big City hospital.

This morning I was reminded in another incident that God's providence (provision for us) is good indeed. I met with my oncologist before having chemo. My comment about his tie (a lovely pink and dark navy stripe) led to something else which then led to our talking about our shared faith in God. It is gratifying to know that he understands me when I say, in speaking of my cancer, that I believe God holds all my days in His hands. (Psalm 139:16). And he understands that while I believe this verse, I also believe that we are to seek good medical care and that I want him to do the best job possible for me in dealing with ovarian cancer.

I had told him that when I see shirts and ties I think in terms of "fabric" and have a covetous desire to cut them up for quilts. He grabbed his tie rather protectively. First, he's a good Onc. Secondly, he's a nice man. Third, he did not give me his tie. I guess two out of three isn't bad. Especially in that order.

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Of Pizza and Pineapple

Pizza and Pineapple...but not in the same dish. That's the menu this morning for breakfast. And, no, this is not a "recipe" post.

Somehow this past month has been incredibly busy. I think if I could take one thing off my calendar it would be medical appointments. But they are there and they will probably remain there for a long time to come.

Last month one of our "missing" family was able to visit from Ohio. And visit we did. It was a blessed time.

This week we are having another nephew visit from Texas. This is his first visit to the area where his father grew up. And so we have taken another tour of the schoolhouse, the farm, the area in general. (Don't forget you can click on photos for close-ups.)

Yesterday's visit to the farm was great fun because the farmer who tills those fields was there with his machinery. He and his helper were placing nitrogen on the acres that will be planted to corn. Then they planned to disk the ground afterward to prepare it for planting. I'm guessing by the end of the day that field was planted and ready for green plants to begin peeking through the soil. It's time. We've hopefully experienced our last killing frost and farmers are now rushing to get every acre planted within the optimum time frame.

Nephew was fascinated with the machinery and asked the farmer many questions...which was nice, because I learned a lot myself without having to ask my own questions.

Of course, we walked through the old house where my siblings and I grew up. As we left, I looked down at the kitchen floor. I remember when that flooring was laid down some 55 years ago. The fellow who sold it to us extolled the virtues of that flooring and guaranteed that it would never wear out. But there it is...the seams are splitting...and it definitely looks "worn out" to me. Don't you think so? That "guarantee" was just too good to be true.

Last evening one of my brothers arrived from his home 100 miles to the south of us and there was much conversation amongst the men at the dinner table and afterward in the living room.

And now today...there are two medical appointments on the calendar. Blood tests. Nephew may have to eat leftover pizza for breakfast. Followed by leftover pineapple upside-down-cake. Somehow I think he can handle that with no problem. Just as long as there is a fresh pot of coffee to go with it.

Pictures on the Wind

This past week I scanned, sorted and labeled a ton of vintage family photos and put them on CDs. Tomorrow I will mail a CD to each of three newly-found nieces and nephew. Within a few days they will insert the CDs into their computers and retrieve photos of their father at age six in 1947. They will see photos of members of this side of the family whom they have never met---their aunts, uncles, cousins, their paternal grandparents and great grandparents. Faces that will be faintly familiar to them because of shared genes.

All of this because someone stood at some point in time, clicked a button on a box camera that opened a shutter for a fraction of a second, and which focused a brief moment in time on black and white film...moments that once were lost to them but now are found.
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They're Coming Out of the Woodwork!

Oh, my Goodness! The family is growing. Several long-lost nieces and nephews are appearing on the horizon and in my email (for which I am totally excited!). And today another email nudged me to introduce a different niece , Cat, to her second cousin, Matt, neither of whom has been lost, just busy elsewhere and never had the opportunity to meet or know each other. This niece is a first cousin to the long-lost nieces and nephews. Are You lost yet? Don't feel bad, it took me a couple minutes to be sure I had the right relationships typed. We need a family reunion!

My Niece! She Answered!

A little over a week ago I mentioned that I had found a long-lost niece. It took me awhile to figure out how to contact her by email but was able to do that a couple days ago. No Answer! This morning there was an email in my mailbox! I am thrilled, for our two families lost contact about 23 years ago. This is so exciting!!
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Wow! I Found My Niece!

Wow! I've been a member at ancestry.com for several months now and have spent zillions of hours entering data on family (both mine and DH's). It's amazing how much info is out there if you know a person's name and birthplace or perhaps where they lived during certain census years. Ancestry allows you to search the census data up through the 1930 census. The 1890 census was somehow pretty much lost in a fire. I have a lot of data assembled from the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 census years for my direct ancestors as well as for a number of their siblings. However, the loss of the 1890 census sometimes throws me for a loop.

What is exciting is that last night I found a niece who had entered her parents' names as well as her own birth name. Her father died decades ago and their family dropped out of sight. I tried contacting her but Ancestry was being stubborn and the link would not work. I'm hoping hers was not a trial membership in which case I still won't be able to contact her. I do not know her residence nor her married name, so unless I can contact her in this way, I'm not certain how else to find her.

Patience! Persistence!