Thank You
Thank you everyone who's stopped by to say hello and give me support! I really appreciate it - you guys are the best!
Mum has had a couple of chest infections lately, and though she's been hardly in this world at all, apparently she's been sitting up in the lounge a couple of times this week. She doesn't open her eyes, but she occassionally responds to what is said... it's better than it was a week ago.
Here's a momentous astronimical event this morning - Venus and Jupiter together in the sky. There should have been a sliver of a crescent moon too, but unfortunately the cloud covered it the whole time. I was lucky to get the planets as it was!
Jupiter is just showing to the right of left cloud mountain
There it is...
Then Venus shows itself...
Finally Venus and Jupiter together!! Eureka!
and closer...
The Planets were only showing for a few minutes, then I got a camel :-)
20 Comments:
Anne Lisa! - What a pleasant surprise to see you on line and blogging again! It is even better to see you back online when I have just returned from the Uk/Europe after attending a whole bunch of medical conferences and seminars and am just catching up on my online life (you really do seem to have a lot of weather over there BTW) I must admit I am the archetypal “long time listener, first time caller”. One day I’ll start one of my own blogs and begin contributing back to the blogosphere (ok, that was my New Year resolution 2 years ago, ahem!)
You have such a wonderful bunch of friends here, and it is so heartening to see you receive so such love and support; they never went away when you (understandably!) went offline for a while, and they will be there when you come back again.
But could I do some plain speaking? And this is going to be a long entry! Guilt. It drives me crazy to see the ‘guilt’ you are carrying around on your shoulders, so un-necessarily and so painfully. There is a sub-text throughout your last entry, which in summary appears to read ’I caused a lot of misery to my friends and loved ones, many of whom are no longer here, I even made them (and me!) ill”
Not at all! Nothing could be further from the truth!
a) Loss. By my reckoning you are somewhere in your early to mid-forties. Unfortunately it is just a simple fact that this is the time of life when most of us start experiencing the full force of loss of parents/friends/acquaintances due to bereavement or illness. Regardless of your actions and interactions with your friends and families most of us suffer feelings of depression and loss at this age. This is often exasperated as it is the time we are also most likely to see our children make their own way in the world, leaving home for college or full time work. It is the ‘shrinking world syndrome’ you have described so eloquently. It is part of “growing up”, and hurts so much because we already feel we are grownup! It will pass.
b) Alzheimer’s - You did not make your mothers Alzheimer’s worse! In fact all the studies show that stimulation and activity has the opposite effect – even if it is “stressful” - it is much more likely that the active engagement you and the children brought when you moved in would decrease the ‘promoters’ for the progression of Alzheimer’s. Stress in Alzheimer’s is actually a vector for mental health issues in the carer, not the sufferer! Consider your involvement in your mothers Alzheimer’s as beneficial rather than negative.
c) Thyroid, divorce and illness – You do not say whether it is hypER or hypO thyroidism you have suffered from, however I suspect the latter from your description of symptoms. Either way it is phenomenally unlikely your divorce gave you thyroid problems; it is much much more likely to be the other way around!! Neither do you say whether you were the “left” or the “leaver” in your divorce BUT there is a growing mass of critical research to suggest that during the onset period for hypOthyroidism (normally anywhere from 6 months to 3 years before formal diagnosis) this dramatically raises the statistical probability for women to seek divorce by an astonishing factor (interestingly for men, though there is a much weaker causal link, onset hypERthyroidism has a similar effect).
d) “My daughter hated me” - well, mothers and daughters! My own daughter (now 8 years out of college and with her own medical practice) can reminisce fondly at the ill-logical but firmly held belief she had that her mother let her down so much as a teenager. I’m afraid this is a common phase in most mother/daughter relationships. Again it will pass, and what will come put will be a clean and wonderful new beginning, as happened with my wife and daughter.
Look at the time!, I’ve probably wrote more than enough, and I’ve probably wrote more than you wanted to hear BUT ….
Get out and have fun, keep up the blog but please please please loose some of that guilt! In the end the race is long and it’s only with yourself!
Phillip x
Stunning photos as always Annelisa!
I'm glad to hear that your mum is having good moments despite her chest infections. Hopelly she will continue on her path of more awareness.
Miss you! Thanks for posting!
love and hugs,Katie
Hang in there, my friend. Taking care of others is always the hardest work there is.
What's always helped me in similar situations is to find a reason to have a good, raucous, cathartic laugh. Which is why, when I'm feeling the lowest, you'll find me at a comedy club, seeking out the nastiest and edgiest comedian I can find.
No walls here, old friend. And while taking care of everyone else, do not forget to take good care of yourself. It sounds trite, but it's true... ft
Hi Honey, nice to see you back. I'm happy to hear your Mum is having some good intervals. It must be so hard for you all to see here like this. Hang on in there babe I'm thinking of your and sending you positive vibes and oodles of Reiki (for you Mum also).
Great pictures - that's what you get with perseverence! :)
Hi Annelisa! Marvellous to have you sharing your thoughtful words to the interesting and glorious pictures.
Please take good care of self...without your goodself, no one can benefit the joy of your presence. LOL.
One hump or two!
Great to see a post from you, chin-up gal, those planets mean good things...
HI A,
Happy to see you here with your beautiful images. The first one is beyond gorgeous.
Neat catch on the planets! Trust you!
That is so validating to see what Philip wrote above and pretty right on I'd say. Imagine from a person who has never commented before, and one who has a busy life, that he took the time to write you that sincerely. Just proves the blogging spirit is still here.
I hope you receieved some strength from his comment. You are you and have special things to offer everyone in your life and you have. If they don't appreciate it, it is definitely their loss.
I am glad I have met such a sweet, kindhearted person as you, Annelisa!
Our schools are closed today so if you worked near me, we could have coffee and some muffins! Maybe even split pea soup!!!
What a pleasure to see your photos you do catch the most amazing skies. :)
Hello - love the first picture especially. I think of you every time I see the sunrise (which is often at this time of year!)
Best wishes for your Mum x I'll check in again soon.
Wow. These photos inspire and draw me into their beauty. Thank you for sharing your beautiful view of the world.
Hi honey, just wondering how you're doing?
How you doing and is your mum ok? (((HUGS)))
Annelisa!
I got to see it one morning...
the 1st I believe...the Moon was already way up....and the next three mornings were very cloudy...
We get to see it... one day only...
next fall.
These photos are stunning. I love it when you blog like this.
Good to see you here.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vvnVdMpgQOk
there's a camel.
Hi Honey, are you OK? How's your mum? x
Hi Miss Annelisa, we were finking abowt you tooday and stopped by to say hi and give you some purrrs.
We love you,
lots of hugs & purrs,
Finny & Buddy & Jasmine
Pee Ess: Jasmine is owr new sisfur! You can see her at owr blog now.
Hello - not hassling you.. but wondered how you're doing?
Me, too.
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