Passages

Most of the events of great importance in my life have happened in late December. I mean major, major events. I won't go into any right now except for two of them, ok three of them.

It is one year ago today that I dislocated my shoulder. That led to two surprise surgeries in the following months, one to put a pin in my upper arm and one to remove a kidney. I'd never had surgery before. To say that the events of that morning a year ago have had lasting effects would be an understatement. I feared in the worst way that I had kidney cancer from my years of smoking. It is not a cancer with very positive outcomes so to have be spared this diagnosis has been a wonderful gift for which I give thanks each day.

Five years ago yesterday I became a grandmother for the first time. I did say major events didn't I? Last night I was talking to my grandson about the events of his big day. We talked about being at his other grandma's, playing with his cousins, Santa coming into his room on Christmas Eve, his gifts, and lots of other things when suddenly he said, "Aren't you going to sing Happy Birthday to me, Grandma?" Now someone who would actually ask me to sing has to be a great addition to your life.

It is twenty-five years ago tomorrow that my brother died of Graft Versus Host Disease following a bone marrow transplant. He died at 27 so would be 52 now. His wife passed away very suddenly just over a year ago. Last week I sent his kids a great photo of their parents when they were dating and so happy in love. His kids were one and three years old at the time and my daughter was three weeks. That all this time has passed and those children are all grown up brings the most profound lessons of all. I ponder all of these events and all the others of late December and early January and give them the respect that they deserve.

A fitting song for today might be How Will You Meet Your End by AA Bondy. It dares ask that question we all wonder about and will all realize at some time.

The rest of the songs today are for my brother. They're from our childhood. We made up a game when we were kids and this song (by the Patsy Cline version) was a part of the game. A newer version that I think my brother would like is I Fall To Pieces with Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood. Another old one is The Battle of New Orleans with Johnny Horton. With that song, I'll stick to the version 1959 we knew best.

Happy Trails

Two more sleeps and I'll be in the air. Everything but my toothbrush and medication is packed and I'm raring to go. The cats know I'm leaving. They always do. I find one of them in my bag every time I go upstairs. The bag in a guest room, on a bed with things all around it and both cats have taken to sleeping in there in the daytime. We will miss each other, my kitties and I, but they will gets of love from my son who will be home soon.

I will miss music too. I play music all the time but most people don't. I questioned my aunt about it over the year and found out they rarely play music. If they do, it's country. I may bring a cd or two along with the cd of photos I made for her. I have to design a window I have a commission for and music is necessary for me when any cre8ive tasks are at hand.

I grew up with country music. It has always been my parents choice and I love a lot of it too. I'm not very familiar with modern country but the old country of Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Johnny Cash and all those, I am very familiar with. I Fall To Pieces by Patsy Cline was a favorite of my mothers. We'd all be singing that at the top of our lungs, accompanying the 33 1/2 record. My brother and I made up a game called I Fall To Pieces and we'd sing it while we played. I've got a great version of the song by Aaron Neville and Trisha Yearwood. My mom would have loved it. I actually may have played it to her years ago as I had the cassette it is from, Country-Soul. Song number two is Border Line from the lovely David Francey who I've seen in concert quite a few times.