A Lot of Catching Up to Do! - October 26, 2015

Well, folks have probably forgotten me after my long silence these past few months!  My India residence had the absolutely worst WiFi connection so I was seldom able to post.  

Besides that, my right shoulder has been insufferably painful and massage did little to relieve the agony.  I didn't get to San Francisco before departure so I was without my usual pain medications -the new Federal law states that you must have prescription in hand from your physician - no more phoning in to your pharmacy.  I can honestly say that Naprosyn does NOT alleviate that joint pain.  My total shoulder replacement is scheduled for November 18th so, thankfully, I should feel better as soon as the day after.  My left shoulder was done two years ago.  Of course, I will need about three months of physical therapy - and it is my right shoulder so I anticipate things will be a bit more difficult post operatively!  I'm trying to practice doing things with my left hand.

I flew from Mumbai to Tampa for a week with Charlene Payton, my dear friend of forty years.  I didn't really have jet lag, I don't think, but with her incredible sleep number bed, I made up for five months on that horrible mattress I had in Mumbai.  Blissful sleep, wonderful company, and great eating readied me for a week in New Orleans and my fifty year Charity Hospital School of Nursing reunion.

I stayed at the home of my friend of fifty years, Martha Meaux Genin.  What a joyful time we all had.  There were so many memories, a few tears, lots of laughs, fabulous food.

Finally, I made it to West Sacramento where I got the warmest welcome ever from my sweet granddaughter, Harper, and the granddogs.  She does not want me out of her sight now and I am being showered with hugs and kisses - when she isn't saying, "Nana, don't touch me!"  She has grown by leaps and bounds and has an incredibly amazing English and Spanish vocabulary for a 2-1/2-year old.

Now that I have really high speed internet, I'll be catching up on India posts and the rest of my world.  While this last stay in India was not my best, I do want to go back.  I can't end my visits to this "country of my heart" on a bad note.

More to come.......

Interracial Friendships

Friendships are color blind - for what color has a soul? That is what true friendship is to me. The sharing of two souls, forget the color of the skin that houses them! Friends embrace, support, laugh and cry together, they know when to speak up, when it is best to sit quietly and listen. It matters not whether our friends live in a villa atop some scenic hillside in Tuscany, in a ghetto fourth floor apartment in Harlem, or are seeking tranquility at an ashram in India. Ethnicity and skin color, gender, education or income are not indicators or prerequisites for friendship and should not be determinants for those who fulfill this role in our lives.

We bring into a friendship the experiences that shape us, our cultural backgrounds, the tidbits of wisdom from our family patriarchs and matriarchs. For some, there are rare opportunities to make friends with others outside our immediate social cirlce. We spend our entire lives never going beyond these boundaries and extending the bonds of friendship to those of another race.

Others are blessed to explore the world beyond their immediate spheres and, in so doing, make friends of other races. In areas of mutliple ethnicities, this is so easy. Children are born without prejudices and, unless they learn it from the adults around them, they play happily side by side, begin school together, and grow up sharing customs, holidays, foods, and friendships.

The world of the internet has been instrumental in initiating many interracial and international friendships. For some, it is difficult to get out in their communities and online communication has been a wonderful medium for sharing lives and battling loneliness.  It has been the stimulus for inspiring people to learn more about cultures different from their own and eliminating some of the anxiety one might feel about the unknown. Staying in touch with friends has become easier, from any part of the world.

I strongly believe in that old adage, "To have a friend, be a friend." Sometimes that means taking a risk, giving more than fifty percent. Over a lifetime, friends come and go as our needs and interests change. A true friend, however, is one that is there forever and a treasure to cherish and love, from the inside out. I relate to the heart of the person, not to the color of their skin. That being said, I cherish many hearts that are housed in ethnicities of the world.

Ramblings from the South

I arrived in Columbus, GA about 1PM on Sunday, October 25th, twelve hours after I left San Francisco International.  I was unbelievably lucky on my five hour overnight flight to New York - three whole seats to myself in coach so I was able to stretch out and sleep for about three hours ( of course, not nearly so comfortably as in business class to and from Europe for my birthday - still I  gave thanks for my good fortune! ),  For the first time ever, I did not rent a car this visit.  Now that my retirement has me on such a fixed income, the $200/week fee seemed too steep for the convenience of having a car sit in the driveway for most of my stay.  I decided to be practical and get a car for a couple of days only since I do need to take my mother to get a senior citizen I. D. card and I'll need to do some grocery shopping.  Even the shopping could be done by taxi on a short jaunt that would cost less than eight dollars round trip.

This morning, the installer from Mediacom  braved the torrential sheets of rain to come out and put in internet for me so, at least, I am connected to the outside world, email, and blogging.  How quickly we take these things for granted.  Last visit, I had an important project I was unable to complete by its deadline so it seemed well worth the $20/month internet fee to have internet access here.  My brother, who is an IBM employee, will also have it handy when he visits from Florida so we will both benefit.  I just wish my mother had gotten a computer before her eyesight deteriorated so much.  She always had such a thirst for knowledge and, with the ability to enlarge font, make pictures full screen, this would have been wonderful for her.  When I mention it now, she just tells me she isn't interested.

While I am home, I will be able to show her all my online photo albums.  She hasn't been able to see much of her grandsons over the years and, with me living 2500 miles away, my visits have usually been limited to two a year.  I'm glad I've come three times since my retirement in April.  It breaks my heart to see her sitting in her chair across the room, staring into space, listening to the rain.  My mother says she isn't in any pain at all which surprises me since she used to complain of joint pain in her knees and wrists.


I am cherishing my time with her, happy to be able to fix meals for her and glad of this time together when we are not at odds as we often were in years past.  Now, while she naps, I am going to catch up on the blog reading I have missed since I left home Saturday night.  I have certainly missed you all, especially with my two with absence for my birthday!