Spent part of this morning talking to my dear friend Angela whose father Gene is about to have a quadruple bypass today. Gene, one of the funniest and sweetest people I know, is a born raconteur and has given me many a quote to remember about his life and adventures. One of my favorites was about the time his wife Margaret decided to get a wig and dye their poodle-- "It was the sixties and I had a blonde wife and a pink poodle. A man can't do better than that!" Last night, the nurse told him he could have anything he wanted to eat before midnight so he sent his wife out for two malted chocolate milkshakes. After learning he was to have heart surgery the next day, the employees gave Margaret the shakes for free. Needless to say, Gene is dreading some lifestyle changes after said operation in the area of food and smoking. An East Texas guy through and through, he never met a fried food he didn't like.
Ang passed the phone to Gene, and I talked to him for a bit. Looking down the barrel of a five hour surgery, he was full of good cheer and made me laugh. Unreal. If it were me, I'd be bitching and moaning, weeping and telling everyone how unfair everything was, my spiritual maturity at an all-time high. But not Gene. He's a stoic in the best sense of the word. Once at a dinner party, I was having a bad time with my then-boyfriend, a silent kind of tense fight. Gene, in Detroit for business, had joined all of us. He could see the strain and said simply, Don't worry, honey, this too shall pass. Words to live by for certain and while Gene is good at many things, he's best at living, sometimes the hardest thing of all.
Michelle's Spell of the Day
"Leap and the net will appear." Zen saying
Cocktail Hour
Drinking memoir suggestion: Cures Martin Duberman
Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Wednesday!
6 comments:
I wish I had Gene's strength. I'd be with you, bitching and moaning and "why meing"
It always amazes me the impact that one person can have on the lives around them.
The scariest part of this for the family is to see their loved one in the recovery room with all kinds of gadget coming out of his mouth and neck,his coloring like a wax figure. It is such a relief when he is back in the hospital room, fewer things hooked up to his body and some color in his cheeks.
myCajunQueen
MaytheOperationGoGood
AndEverybodyB
OKR2C2!!!!!
My father was told in his late seventies by his doctors that he had a ticking time bomb in his chest. He told them to get screwed, never went to a doctor again and died of a heart attack at age 83.
I remember my first visit to Carmel, California. I was standing on the ledge of a cliff, overlooking a beautiful view of the Pacific. But I guess I was too close to the edge and I fell over the cliff, saving my life only by grasping onto a dwarf willow that was growing just below the cliff ledge. I and my legs were dangling above a 100 ft. drop to doom on a rocky beach. It was like something out of a Buster Keaton comedy, only I wasn't laughing.
I looked up to the heavens and yelled out, "Is there anyone up there that can help me!" After a moment, a booming voice came out of the clouds and said: "I will help you. But first, let go of that willow with both hands." I looked down to the beach and then up to the heavens again and shouted, "Is there anyone else up there that can help me!"
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