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Before I begin… I want to send my deepest sympathies to my Aunt Shirley (my father’s sister), cousins Ray, Sue & their family, and Norm, Terry & their family for the loss of their son / brother Rick (Ricky ~ Erich).
Rick enjoyed the last few years traveling & living abroad, most recently in Thailand. A little over a week ago the family received word that he had passed away.
Please keep them in your prayers while they are mourning his loss. Additionally, please pray as they are in the process of having his body sent home (New Jersey) and at the same time preparing a memorial service to say their final goodbyes.
As a side note; my son Ricky received his given name (Erich) from our cousin Ricky.
It’s sad. but because we live on separate coasts it's that rare that we have an opportunity to visit or even speak with each other. The last time we were able to visit with Rick was about 6 ½ years ago while on vacation in Florida. This picture was taken during that visit, yes, that is myself along with Rick…
Back to me…the last few days have been a bit difficult…
I’ve needed to get up a few times during each night to do breathing treatments and with that I’ve been extremely tired throughout the day. So much so that I’ve canceled my most recent PT (physical therapy) and doctor visit with my Pulmonologist.
The PT appointments are wonderful, I’ve learned how to breathe so that I’m not always out of breath, (this breathing technique is called pursed lip breathing). http://www.copd-international.com/Library/plb.htm. Additionally, I’ve begun exercising, how wonderful to be able to do this without being out of breath.
As of now I have a PT appointment for Thursday, Pulmonologist appointment for Friday, Monday is an Eye appointment, PT on Tuesday, Dental on Wednesday, PT on Thursday and so on.
By the way, if any of you are willing and able to assist me in getting to/from appointments I would truly be grateful… I’m trying to free Jeralynn up just a bit (and keep Stephen happy). Not only does she check in on me throughout the day and night, drag me around to my appointments, do errands for me, but she also picks Nicholas up from school everyday and takes him to Alex’s house. (Who is Alex? I will tell you in a minute.)
As of right now I am thanking God that my housing problem has been resolved; at least temporarily. I’ve spent much time crying out to God and sharing my desire with Him as wanting to stay in my house. I love where I live; God has blessed me with the most incredible neighbors, I feel at home and really don’t want to move.
My only other choice besides staying where I am right now was to rent a room from someone. I’m not saying that renting a room won’t happen eventually, in fact that just might be exactly what happens over time. If that were to happen then I would need to give up everything I own, the only “things” that I could keep would be whatever I could fit into a bedroom. As I have been mulling over these options the last few weeks I have found myself becoming very depressed at times.
Regardless of what happens in the future, I need to remember that God has and always will have His very best planned for my life. As you have all witnessed, His plans have certainly not been my plans. I may not see it at the time but I need to hold onto the faith I have in Him and not forget that He is the one taking care of me.
So onto the housing resolution… Jennifer (my daughter) is going to move in with me. She won’t be giving me the exact dollar amount that is needed to stay here but Rick has agreed to help out with what we are short on.
I may put a call out to some of you to assist me with a yard sale or two as the summer draws near. I owe a few individuals along with several credit card companies’ money which was accrued during the couple years that I was without income. The majority (about 99%) of this “borrowed” money was used for medical expenses.
The easy way out of this debt would be to claim bankruptcy or to just write them off in any way that I can. However, it is my responsibility to pay back every penny of debt (and interest) that I have incurred both thru credit cards and personally.
I was well aware of what I was doing at the time of using the credit cards and borrowing money. At the time I felt it was my only choice as I needed to continue to see doctors and take the required medications for which I had no insurance.
I had began repaying those I owed money to from the 1st day I received my first disability check at the beginning of 2008 and have continued thru today. My goal for 2009 is to have everyone paid in full, with interest by the end of this year. I will keep you posted!
Now, onto some news that I haven’t had the chance to share with the majority of you…
Jennie and Robert (Nick’s daddy) ended their relationship some time ago…
With that, Jennie had begun dating and found / fell in love with a young man named Alex.
I had not met him until Thanksgiving when I was able to pull off a dinner for six (this was one of those things I wanted to accomplish before going into the hospital). My son Rick and his girlfriend Honey, Jen, Alex, and Nick had all come over for what turned out to be a wonderful time of celebrating Thanksgiving over dinner.
What I didn’t know about Alex before Thanksgiving was that he is legally blind. He can do most everything except drive. He is currently going to school full time and I’ve recently learned that he is pursuing a career in criminal justice.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day I really hadn’t had an opportunity to get to know Alex much more than that. With me being very tired, ending up in the hospital, and this just being a very busy time of the year, there was not “getting to know you time” available.
The kids came in and out on Christmas Day; I only spent a brief amount of time with each of them. When Jennie and Nick came over I asked Jennie what Alex had given her for Christmas… she reached out her hand and showed me a ring… I asked if she was engaged, yes indeed, that’s what it was, an engagement ring. Wow! I was happy for her as I knew that she longed to get married and now it was happening.
Even in the month since Christmas there just hasn’t been an opportunity for me to get to know Alex. The one thing I have learned is that Alex loves Nick very much and for that I am grateful; additionally, Nick loves to be with Alex. By the way, this is where Jeralynn takes Nick everyday after school, to Alex’s house.
I asked Jennie when they are getting married; she said that they are going to wait until she is finished with school; probably in about a year. Okay, I can handle that… this gives me time to get to know Alex before the wedding. This also allows time for me to lose weight and get my health in order before the big day.
The next day, December 26th, I needed Jen to run an errand for me. She said that she couldn’t; she had an appointment that she couldn’t reschedule. I didn’t think anything of it, just went about my day as usual.
At 2:47pm on December 26th (I will never forget the exact day and time) Jennie called. She says “I have something to tell you” (how many of you have already guessed?). “Mom, I’m sixteen weeks pregnant with a little boy”!
Well, between December 25th and December 26th I felt as though my knees were knocked out from underneath me… I was in shock! After being home from the hospital just a few days these two surprises were the furthest things from my mind; I would have never gues
sed that 2009 would include having my daughter giving me another grandson.
Yes, it’s true; by mid June I will have two grandsons, only 4 ½ months from now.
Nicholas is very excited as he can’t wait to be a big brother… Alex and Jennie are counting the days… and I’m learning how one grandmother can have enough love for two grandsons instead of one grandson! Anyway, until next time,
Diana
P.S. I received a card from PR today… in it was a beautiful scripture.
Psalm 73:26 God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Amen to that!
Rick enjoyed the last few years traveling & living abroad, most recently in Thailand. A little over a week ago the family received word that he had passed away.
Please keep them in your prayers while they are mourning his loss. Additionally, please pray as they are in the process of having his body sent home (New Jersey) and at the same time preparing a memorial service to say their final goodbyes.
As a side note; my son Ricky received his given name (Erich) from our cousin Ricky.
It’s sad. but because we live on separate coasts it's that rare that we have an opportunity to visit or even speak with each other. The last time we were able to visit with Rick was about 6 ½ years ago while on vacation in Florida. This picture was taken during that visit, yes, that is myself along with Rick…
Back to me…the last few days have been a bit difficult…
I’ve needed to get up a few times during each night to do breathing treatments and with that I’ve been extremely tired throughout the day. So much so that I’ve canceled my most recent PT (physical therapy) and doctor visit with my Pulmonologist.
The PT appointments are wonderful, I’ve learned how to breathe so that I’m not always out of breath, (this breathing technique is called pursed lip breathing). http://www.copd-international.com/Library/plb.htm. Additionally, I’ve begun exercising, how wonderful to be able to do this without being out of breath.
As of now I have a PT appointment for Thursday, Pulmonologist appointment for Friday, Monday is an Eye appointment, PT on Tuesday, Dental on Wednesday, PT on Thursday and so on.
By the way, if any of you are willing and able to assist me in getting to/from appointments I would truly be grateful… I’m trying to free Jeralynn up just a bit (and keep Stephen happy). Not only does she check in on me throughout the day and night, drag me around to my appointments, do errands for me, but she also picks Nicholas up from school everyday and takes him to Alex’s house. (Who is Alex? I will tell you in a minute.)
As of right now I am thanking God that my housing problem has been resolved; at least temporarily. I’ve spent much time crying out to God and sharing my desire with Him as wanting to stay in my house. I love where I live; God has blessed me with the most incredible neighbors, I feel at home and really don’t want to move.
My only other choice besides staying where I am right now was to rent a room from someone. I’m not saying that renting a room won’t happen eventually, in fact that just might be exactly what happens over time. If that were to happen then I would need to give up everything I own, the only “things” that I could keep would be whatever I could fit into a bedroom. As I have been mulling over these options the last few weeks I have found myself becoming very depressed at times.
Regardless of what happens in the future, I need to remember that God has and always will have His very best planned for my life. As you have all witnessed, His plans have certainly not been my plans. I may not see it at the time but I need to hold onto the faith I have in Him and not forget that He is the one taking care of me.
So onto the housing resolution… Jennifer (my daughter) is going to move in with me. She won’t be giving me the exact dollar amount that is needed to stay here but Rick has agreed to help out with what we are short on.
I may put a call out to some of you to assist me with a yard sale or two as the summer draws near. I owe a few individuals along with several credit card companies’ money which was accrued during the couple years that I was without income. The majority (about 99%) of this “borrowed” money was used for medical expenses.
The easy way out of this debt would be to claim bankruptcy or to just write them off in any way that I can. However, it is my responsibility to pay back every penny of debt (and interest) that I have incurred both thru credit cards and personally.
I was well aware of what I was doing at the time of using the credit cards and borrowing money. At the time I felt it was my only choice as I needed to continue to see doctors and take the required medications for which I had no insurance.
I had began repaying those I owed money to from the 1st day I received my first disability check at the beginning of 2008 and have continued thru today. My goal for 2009 is to have everyone paid in full, with interest by the end of this year. I will keep you posted!
Now, onto some news that I haven’t had the chance to share with the majority of you…
Jennie and Robert (Nick’s daddy) ended their relationship some time ago…
With that, Jennie had begun dating and found / fell in love with a young man named Alex.
I had not met him until Thanksgiving when I was able to pull off a dinner for six (this was one of those things I wanted to accomplish before going into the hospital). My son Rick and his girlfriend Honey, Jen, Alex, and Nick had all come over for what turned out to be a wonderful time of celebrating Thanksgiving over dinner.
What I didn’t know about Alex before Thanksgiving was that he is legally blind. He can do most everything except drive. He is currently going to school full time and I’ve recently learned that he is pursuing a career in criminal justice.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day I really hadn’t had an opportunity to get to know Alex much more than that. With me being very tired, ending up in the hospital, and this just being a very busy time of the year, there was not “getting to know you time” available.
The kids came in and out on Christmas Day; I only spent a brief amount of time with each of them. When Jennie and Nick came over I asked Jennie what Alex had given her for Christmas… she reached out her hand and showed me a ring… I asked if she was engaged, yes indeed, that’s what it was, an engagement ring. Wow! I was happy for her as I knew that she longed to get married and now it was happening.
Even in the month since Christmas there just hasn’t been an opportunity for me to get to know Alex. The one thing I have learned is that Alex loves Nick very much and for that I am grateful; additionally, Nick loves to be with Alex. By the way, this is where Jeralynn takes Nick everyday after school, to Alex’s house.
I asked Jennie when they are getting married; she said that they are going to wait until she is finished with school; probably in about a year. Okay, I can handle that… this gives me time to get to know Alex before the wedding. This also allows time for me to lose weight and get my health in order before the big day.
The next day, December 26th, I needed Jen to run an errand for me. She said that she couldn’t; she had an appointment that she couldn’t reschedule. I didn’t think anything of it, just went about my day as usual.
At 2:47pm on December 26th (I will never forget the exact day and time) Jennie called. She says “I have something to tell you” (how many of you have already guessed?). “Mom, I’m sixteen weeks pregnant with a little boy”!
Well, between December 25th and December 26th I felt as though my knees were knocked out from underneath me… I was in shock! After being home from the hospital just a few days these two surprises were the furthest things from my mind; I would have never gues
sed that 2009 would include having my daughter giving me another grandson.Yes, it’s true; by mid June I will have two grandsons, only 4 ½ months from now.
Nicholas is very excited as he can’t wait to be a big brother… Alex and Jennie are counting the days… and I’m learning how one grandmother can have enough love for two grandsons instead of one grandson! Anyway, until next time,
Diana
P.S. I received a card from PR today… in it was a beautiful scripture.
Psalm 73:26 God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Amen to that!
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