Can you believe today is the last day of the year? Have you written down your resolutions? I don’t write any down, I don’t make resolutions as I used to. I’d always forget them or something in life would encourage me to change them, either forcefully or in an encouraging manner. Life is always about change isn’t it? One thing that has always remained a constant is getting all the laundry done and do none on New Year’s Day. BH and I were raised the same way about that superstition. We’ve been doing the weekly laundry but today will be all the dog blankets and bedding. If they still played with toys, we’d be washing those too. Everything clean for the New Year. My Mom would also buy new brooms, mops, etc so she wasn’t bringing the old into the new year. I imagine it was something passed down through the generations. The other thing we both still practice is having pork on New Year’s Day as neither of us are Jewish. Mom did sauerkraut but BH’s mom did fried cabbage. When I lived by myself, I’d just do a couple of pork chops, didn’t need a roast. BH used to always need black eyed peas which are not my favorite and I’m really glad that we have switched to doing a Cuban pork roast with black beans and rice. Do y’all have any special dinners planned for tomorrow?
Oh I need to share a story before I get on to the welcomes! We went to a restaurant we hadn’t been to in a few years. The young man actually remembered me and asked if i could do stairs. I was so happy when I said yes, I do stairs! Doesn’t sound like a big deal does it? But for several years after I ruptured I had a horrendous time on stairs. Once in Atlanta we took a nephew to the Coca Cola place. We were coming down the stairs, reached the end and my brain didn’t register I was on flat ground. If it wasn’t for the Nephew and BH I’d have done a face dive into the concrete. I always had to wear bright contrasting shoes so I could see there was a step and wear my foot was. I also couldn’t navigate stairs using both feet, always one foot, stop on the tread and take the next step with the same foot. It took me a long time to navigate more than two or three steps. I had to work hard at relearning how to do stairs. I don’t have them mastered, so no running up and down them like I could before I popped my pipe, but most days, I can put one foot in front of the other. What’s your big accomplishment this year? That’s my story, let’s get on to the welcomes!
Our newest member is @Kimberly2022. Kimberly is in Colorado and has had two aneurysms, one ruptured on 31 October 2002. She had another repaired in 2015. She had to have a VP shunt placed back when she ruptured and she’s had a lot of doctor visits because of it. Kimberly believes it’s now giving her problems. Kimberly is able to work as a school crossing guard which I think is wonderful! I definitely believe it’s not the easiest of jobs out there and one of great importance.
Isn’t it amazing Ms. Kimberly is our last member to welcome for the year?! Ms. Kimberly, please start a new topic under General and the members who’ve had shunts can help you out with their experiences. You can also use the magnifying glass to do a search! Thank you for joining!