I have been calling friends to see how they are doing. Two have had surgery to deal with much pain, and one recently lost a parent. Another friend lives in Alabama where there have been ongoing threats of tornadoes.

It is good to hear their voices.

Houses are suddenly up for sale, including one next door to me. There are four apartments in it and one tenant told me she knows two intend to stay. New neighbors, new owner…anticipation of how it will be.

Change

My dear friend Marjie died suddenly. She lived In Michigan and we met in our PhD program. I stayed with her when I visited Michigan. I feel a large empty space in my life.

Sadness.

Changes take place inside my home too. The carpeting and towels change color in the bathroom, and a light comforter is on the bed. Traditionally I do this to have a visual change. It also heightens awareness of the new seasons.

Variety.

On one of my walking routes, I met Parker, a pit bull. I always had treats for her. She would always pull the leash to see me. Over time, she was walking more slowly and shorter distances. One day I did not see her, I sent her Dad a message and he said they had put her down.

I miss her.

I woke up and I saw it was 5:25 AM. My typical wake up time. I did my exercises in bed and found I had no discomfort doing so. When I finished, I sat up and noticed it was 9:35 PM. It was easier to exercise because I had not been laying in bed for eight hours.

I thought my body had progressed.

When I ask someone what makes them happy, most pause; it is something we don’t think about. There is no ongoing state of happiness; we need to continuously feed the feeling. It may be events or people. It may be thoughts or experiences. It can be the sun, a joke, a child, an animal, or a memory. It can be an awareness.

Make it happen.

Today is the 27th anniversary of an auto accident I was in that left me with 13 broken bones, two skull fractures, and frontal lobe brain damage. I was in a forced coma for the first five weeks until they decided I would survive. Not shocking for those who know me, I had decided to survive immediately.

We can do it.

There are a few of us who have met for several weeks. There is no agenda. We share issues we have, interests we have, and anything else that we want to explore. It is wonderful to be listened to and to discover others who have similar experiences or concerns.

People are valuable.

I had cataract surgery. My eyes were done two weeks apart. The biggest challenge was keeping track of the eye drop schedule, as each eye was different. I only have one week to go with the second eye.

Achievement.