Well Good Morning All Y’all! What a wonderful day to be alive! I didn’t even have to make the bed this morning and I was the last one out! Truth be told, not sure why BH made it because we wash the bed linens today. With all this fancy stuff on washers and dryers that are supposed to make things more efficient it now takes us 2 days to do laundry. I wonder what my Grandma would say about things happening today with laundry. Back in 1973 we took a trip from CA to PA where my parents are from to visit family. I knew my Grandma as she’d been coming out every few years to visit, sometimes with just one of my aunts sometimes, 2 and when my sister got married, all 3! I only knew a few of my Dad’s side of the family, the ones who’d been drafted, the Uncle who lived down the street from us in Chula Vista with his wife and 2 daughters and one who had to fly many times to LA for business. My mom’s brothers I knew because Uncle Whitey was in the Merchant Marines and stayed with us when his ship came into San Diego. Dad and Uncle Whitey built him a room in the big garage, we used it as a den when he wasn’t in. Anyhow back to the big trip to PA!
Grandma had her laundry down in the basement. I helped her carry the laundry down the incredibe number of steps that were of course outside. Luckily it was Summer. So down the stairs we went and Grandma set up the laundry by an old electric wringer washer! I noticed a brand new washer and dryer over on pallets by the far wall and asked why she didn’t use those so I could help her. She insisted the washer wasn’t any good, it didn’t clean her clothes very well at all! Have to agree that her wringer washer not only got our clothes really clean, but also reduced wrinkles! She preferred to hang her clothes on the line in the basement rather than put them in the dryer unless it was winter she shared. The dryer caused more wrinkles. Of course Grandma ironed most everything anyhow so there you have it. I was enthralled with the entire process of a wringer washer but was not allowed to feed the clothes through it. She was afraid I would hurt myself. Knowing my luck, that was an huge possibility.
She also never had a driver’s license, walking downhill a mile or so for groceries and back up hill with them. One of my aunt’s couldn’t work because she’d contracted TB when working in a leather factory so she’d drive Grandma when weather wasn’t in her favor. It’s good to have family to help out isn’t it?
The one thing I was allowed to do, was walk a Great Dane that the sisters next door to her inherited from their brother. Dad watched them one morning struggling with him. Of course I was under my Grandma’s feet because I thought she was the bestest, smartest person ever to grace the world. So Dad calls me to come with him and off we go to the dog and the sisters. Dad says to them to let me take him for a walk as I was about 80 years younger than they were being in their 90’s. They didn’t think I could handle him saying I was too little. Dad laughed and said it would be okay. They all watched me walk this humongous canine whose back probably came to my shoulders. He was a great old dog. He gave me something to do every day several times a day. I have a hard time without animals in my life. We quickly became friends and he would woof quietly of course for me every time he looked out the window. Friends come in many shapes and sizes. It’s great to have friends!
So what does this all have to do with aneurysms you may be asking yourselves. You might be asking where am I going with this as well. Not a dang thing and nowhere. Just woke up with Grandma heavily on my mind and filling my heart with love. She never came off the pedestal I put her on. She died a few months after my horse had to be put down the month after my beloved Boxer and best friend died in my lap. Grandma was afraid of dogs all her life. One had forced her onto the top of a hay wagon when she was on her way to visit her grandmother. Grandma was stuck up there until they found her, cold wet and scared to death as the dog was laying under the wagon. Our boxer would lay on her feet when she came to visit. Grandma would feed her treats trying to get her to go somewhere else and lay down. We never could convince Grandma to stop feeding her, maybe she started to tolerate dogs.
Life is not all about our aneurysms. Yes, they do take center stage when we find out we have one either by rupture or incidental find. But we can’t always dwell on them 100% of the time, it’s not healthy in my opinion. Try to find something else to focus on even for a few minutes and then build those minutes to hours. Limit your time spent on your aneurysm. I have found over the years 15 minutes a day is as much as I’m going to spend, I’ve got more things in life to do than it and the what if’s. Remember to do your relaxation breathing, hydrate, eat protein talk a walk about enjoying everything that comes your way. I need to get to our welcome and close the door that Nina just opened. She likes the door to stay open but we are not paying to heat the county!
@SMDG is our newest member! Welcome Sue! Sue shares she was just diagnosed 11/21/25 with 2 aneurysms. She had her angiogram and the small 2mm turned out to be a fenestration (yes I did look it up, it’s where an artery splits into two and then rejoin itself). Sue had her consultation with surgeons on clipping vs coil and stent. But found out coiling is not an option because of the 1 “bleb” and 2 larger daughter blebs. She’s hoping to her front the surgeon who will do the craniotomy for the date. Sue has some good things in her favor. She has never smoked, no high blood pressure and no family history of brain aneurysms. She’s got a family being married with two adult children so hopefully some support. And guess what else? She’s already started two topics! Here Clipping Surgery at MCA ACA ICA Junction and here Aneurysm Located at MCA ACA ICA Junction . Let’s help her out folks!
Have a great week! Take time to see the great things around you! Until next Sunday!