HAIR DRYERS AND FAMILIES

First, I want to thank everyone for the support and prayers that were sent to me over the last two months. It was very heart warming as well as informative as many people came forward with positive stories about their family and friends overcoming cancer on all fronts. There have been people that I had nodded hello to over the years that have come up to me to voice their support for the stories as well as wishing me luck and prayers for my health. I can't thank you all enough for those words of support.

I want to give back some of the things that have surfaced due to this ordeal that has made my life easier; perhaps they can work for you. One is silly but a lot of fun and very handy. The other is on a subject I have written about before. Take either one on its merits and if you can elaborate on either one I will pass it on. First the silly one; having lost twelve pounds due to the surgeries I found myself more susceptible to the cold.

With the very cold temperatures we have gotten over the past few weeks, I found myself chilled and unable to get warm at certain times. Climbing into a cold bed left me shivering for minutes until I remembered that our forefathers used a warming pan with hot coals to warm up their beds. Here's were a hair dryer comes in. Use your hair dryer to warm the bed by holding it in your hand and blowing it under the sheets. In a matter of minutes it will warm the entire bed. DO NOT PUT IT UNDER THE SHEETS AND LEAVE IT AS THIS COULD CAUSE A FIRE. When going out in the morning to the car warm you or your kids’ shoes, gloves and inside your coat with the hair dryer just before you leave. The chill will not get to you while the car warms up.

On the more serious side this disease brings our mortality to the surface and we realize we are here for a short time. Great men have always told me that having to do it all over again they would have spent more time with family, friends and people they loved. Now is the time to talk to everyone in your life to say the things you need to and ask the questions you have wondered about. I found a piece I wrote in 1992 that sums up the reason for this story.

To Dad….written 2/7/92. I saw my father last night. He came to see me…to talk. He wasn't as tall as I remember him. I was much smaller back then. We talked for hours not as father to son, more like friends. We shared our secrets, hopes and fears, things we never discussed over the years, the future yet unseen. I woke up….it was all a dream. If only this could have happened before he died. Neither of us knew any better. It is how we were raised.