Flu, the mashed potato war and Thanksgiving

Thanks for the kind words! The flu is a thing of the past but I had to do a UTI just to say I did. I did not write this to tell everyone that I had a bad life; nothing could be further from the truth. The reason I wrote it was that I think sometimes we need to share the fact that even though we have a chin up attitude it does not mean we do not have bad days. Often we tend to build holidays into a Norman Rockwell moment and they do not meet our expectations, and for some sadness and depression can follow. The reality of the situation is that for most nothing is as perfect as we wish it were and it leaves us the choice of appreciating what we have or being upset for what didn’t live up to our expectations.

George I think we could do a whole section here on what pets have meant to some of us during hard times in our lives. Sam the Yorkshire terrier had to be taken bodily from me to eat and go out when I was going through treatments and surgeries. My family thinks it is because he was worried about who would spoil him rotten if anything happened to me but I like to think it had something to do with love and loyalty.

As for a Thanksgiving that we still talk was one that had to do with the flu as well in 2004. As I was in the middle of chemotherapy and radiation the decision was made that this year we would eat out. I had made a reservation for the whole family at a nice area restaurant. We woke up Thanksgiving morning and Ed was very sick with the flu and was not up to going anywhere. Now the problem was that the others in the group were all of my in laws and not a one of them were under 80 not a problems in itself if you didn’t know my mother in law. Mary had never had a problem of saying exactly what she was thinking and at 90 she was hard of hearing and just said it louder. The only person she would ever behave for was my husband. Being a wise woman I knew I need back up so I called my 21 year old son and told him he had to take his father’s place and after some threats about Santa not coming he of course graciously accepted. As we were being seated I said hello to the last person I wanted to see at the table next to ours a nasty business rival who I had over the years been very careful to only show strength and dignity. It was going pretty well and I had convinced myself that we were going to get out of there without major mishap. I excused myself to the ladies room and had no sooner returned than Mary looked and me and said in a voice so that everyone in the room could hear ‘Go Pee?’ I smiled and shook my head yes and thought well if that is the worst of it when…….’Nice wig’ came out of her mouth. Now Mary on a roll was a thing of wonder and she didn’t disappoint once she got rolling. By the way my son could have been some help if he could have stopped laughing long enough. To tell you the truth my dignity being dented didn’t kill me at all and I still laugh whenever I think of it. I would give a great deal to have one more holiday wondering what Mary would say next.