Whether you’re in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, Happy Solstice Day! Shakespeare wrote a whole play just on today, perhaps you’ve heard of it, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? Lots of celebrations going on today, maybe you will partake in one happening near you. We don’t have any in our county. There was a big one in Greensboro yesterday which we did not partake in. I like to enjoy the artists’ work at festivals and I like homemade root beer. Octoberfest in Hickory has some really good root beer, just sayin’.
I was reading @paperlady reply about stopping to smell the roses which of course reminded me of that old relaxation saying, “breathe in the flowers, blow out the candles”. Have ya’ll heard that one before? It’s a good reminder on how to do it and a nice mantra whilst doing it.
BH has to take me to Winston-Salem tomorrow. Of course I cannot drive it, we would be pulling over if there were nitwits on the road and usually there are. I did drive it once but conditions were perfect, overcast so no sun coming through the trees. It bothers my right eye to no end which bothers my brain and I immediately start with a bad stutter so breathing deeper and holding longer has to happen, along with closing my right eye. Thank you Dad for teaching me how to wink! Who knew that fun skill would come in handy when I got older.
By the way, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! I hope you’re a good father. Okay, most any male can be a father but it takes a special one to be a Dad or Daddy! When I was little, Daddy always introduced me as his shadow. When he was home, I was in fact his shadow and being so, he taught me many things other than winking. He wasn’t overly strict, more lenient that Mom and would tell a lot of jokes to everyone and anyone. After he was discharged from the Navy, I remained his shadow. Mom would be madder than a hatter about something I did and I’d get a spanking along “just with wait till your father gets home”. Dad would come into my bedroom and tell me to scream. The first time he said it, I didnt’ understand so he popped my behind with his belt. I hollered and he commenced to beating my bed which I dutifully let out another. Luckily, I wasn’t a bad kid so he didn’t have to do it often. By the time I hit double digits, his means of discipline changed a wee bit and by the time I became a teen, I had to grab him a beer from the beer refrigerator, sit down at the picnic table and explain what I had done wrong, what I was going to do to fix it and how I was going to avoid making a poor choice in the future. It would have been easier to take a beating from Mom than to have to admit responsibility that would have to be remembered.
He also had my back. One time my best friend’s father came over demanding my Dad whip me! Dad told me to go get them a beer. (Seemed my bad choices always happened in the Summer). Dad didn’t like to be told how to raise his children, he came from a sibling group of 13 and had child rearing pretty much down pat. His big rules we were never to break was to show respect to others, never lie and stand up for ourselves. Well, Mr. H said something I disagreed with and explained my point of view. Mr. H didn’t appreciate that in any sense of the word and sent me home with him. Being younger and a faster walker, I made it up out of their arena and through our barn and arena up to Dad. Mr. H told my dad to take the belt to me. Dad asked him to explain himself. Then he asked Mr. H if I had been respectful in sharing my point of view. I knew he was more than livid when he pointed his finger, a sign we overstepped our boundaries and we’d better not keep at it. Mr. H didn’t know the sign and started yelling at Dad. Dad took to his favorite cuss words which I will not share then said he taught his kids to use the brain God gave us and accused Mr. H of not doing the same. I think some of his words were if he told Melanie the moon was made of cheese, Melanie would have to agree with him. Dad was right, Mr. H did not like to be told other than he thought something to be true. They made amends over their second cold beer and I was allowed to continue being friends with his daughter.
Dad’s don’t always have to be blood related. It really does take more than genetics to be a Dad. We get men in our lives, good men, who will show patience, teach in kind ways and interact with us all the while being great father figures. I have had quite a few father figures like that cross paths with me, I hope you have as well. If you happen to be a father or a male who does harm to children, that’s another ball of wax I will not get into much, but you should be ashamed of yourself and get a therapist.
Back to Winston-Salem, yep not a good transition. It will be, I promise. So this very kind man called about getting to the Imaging center at Baptist, it’s across the street from the hospital. They have their own parking lot and we were wondering why I didn’t get the needed code to get in. I was having a great day, getting lots of things done in the house while waiting for the sun to get past an arch window so I could write a letter to one of my great nieces. He called, young child in the background squealing with delight, really loud. My brain doesn’t do high pitched noises well at all. He must have noticed because he apologized. None necessary, I think the child was closer to 1 year old as they weren’t verbal yet. But my speech skills went downhill faster than a bobsled in the Olympics, as did my sentence structure. He was patient and kind with me, explaining several times so I understood that we have to park in A, go to another building where someone from Imaging will take us over. He let me write it down in my phone. I hope he is as kind and patient with the child in the background. I told BH to make sure to wear good walking shoes and be prepared to do a short hike. BH doesn’t walk fast, never has but is experiencing some health issues that makes walking harder. About every 50’ BH has to stop for a couple of minutes. We will need to leave earlier than originally planned. It might be storming there, if so we get to go down the tunnel! I loved going down the tunnel when I was in NSICU. It’s fairly steep and I always wanted to race down it. A couple of times one of my RNs would oblige me if it was later in the day or at night. It would make me laugh, which was rare after my rupture.
After ending the phone call, I couldn’t get three words out without getting them all mixed up with stuttering. BH called it a day and didn’t allow me to do anything else. I was lost trying to find my mind. What is it about high notes or pitches or whatever they are properly called and my brain that stops it from working? I am very curious, perhaps I need to start a new topic… Otherwise it will become a question for Dr. Quintero Wolfe who I will actually get to see tomorrow. I haven’t seen her since she updated my brain and installed the stent. My guess is she’ll say she doesn’t know and refer me to Sergey.
Now on to the welcomes!
@Nydadof3 is up in New York. Frank shares he went down on a Thursday, end of February 2025. Spent 7 days thinking it was a bad case of a Neuro virus. Frank has a wonderful wife who convinced him to go back and get a CT scan in case it had affected his brain while being sick. Frank had his aneurysm coiled. He also shares his a dad of three (Happy Father’s Day!) and used to do a lot more than he does now. Boy do we get that!
@klove is in Maryland and is waiting to have a flow diverter stent placed. Kelsey was diagnosed with an incidental find brain aneurysm in January, Her diagnosis helped her sister get scanned and they found an aneurysm in her as well. Good for you and your sister! Kelsey is waiting for surgery. She also shares she enjoys spending time with her husband and dog.
@baconner ends this week’s welcomes. Barbara shares she’s just been diagnosed with a 2mm posterior aneurysm. She also shares that her husband doesn’t think having an aneurysm is a big deal.
For all new members, please start a new topic under General or Support and let us know how we can help you. We are also a bit inquisitive so tell us more about you as well. If you run into any problems navigating the site you can send a PM to either me (@Moltroub ) or the kind folks who comprise @ModSupport and we’ll get you fixed up as best we can. Please remember we are all in different time zones so you will need to be patient. I only get on in the mornings EST, ModSupport is in 3 different time zones I believe.
Existing members, thank you for showing support to others, it means the world to me. To take some of your time to help others is what we are all about. To the members who read and don’t respond -Even if you can’t address a specific issue, you can offer words of encouragement or solace. Supporting others shouldn’t just be a handful of us, especially in so large a support group. Did you know as your moderator, if I followed Ben’s Friends moderator rules, I would not be responding and let others do it, unless something has gone past 24 hours? I had been told that doesn’t work for this group, to keep responding as I do, but apparently other Moderators follow their 24 hour rule. Ben’s Friends has a lot of rare disease support groups by the way. So I will ask you, would you prefer me not to respond for 24 hours, unless of course someone is breaching the rules of the site? Let me know in the comments, I won’t be offended, I promise.
Enjoy the week! Enjoy Solstice Day! Remember to smell the flowers, blow out the candles and stay hydrated. I look forward to reading everyone’s topics and replies!