August 5, 2013 Greetings My Friend, We’ve been to Johnson City TN twice in the last two weeks. It is a 3 hour drive from our house and when we need to see specialists that is where they tend to be. My Doctor wanted me to see a surgeon about my birth defect so I could understand what is going on within my body. The surgeon wanted me to have a 2nd MRI done so he could see more clearly the defect. I went and had it done this week. The first week we went the wrong date. It happens as we get older. We seem to not keep track of things like we once did. We can get mad or accept this quirk in our personalities. I choose to accept this quirk and move on. We make more lists than we have done in the past and that too is ok. I now have to go back for an x-ray on my neck. He now thinks that the brain stem is not inside of the vertebrae but crowded around the vertebrae. He also seems to think I am at the limit of my struggle for the most part. I will need a cane for the rest of my life, I can handle that. It does not appear that I will continue to decline at least not dramatically. So I move forward into life. The day after we got back I had to go back to the dentist to have my new crown put in. It looks pretty good and hopefully no more crowns on the front of my mouth for many years. It is trying to say the least. That is a very sensitive area of the mouth to work on and very trying to be a brave woman. Junior also went for a physical and we have several more appointments lined up for him. Oh joy. I think our job in old age is to visit doctors. That is how I feel at times. Still the appointments help us stay on top of our health and I’d like to be as active as I can be in my older years so we will continue on with the appointments. I firmly believe that if we stay on top of our health we will live more comfortably and catch things before they get way out of control. The new deck is slowly getting a roof put up. That is real nice. J has also started putting insulation on the underneath boards to the porch where we have enclosed it. This helps Junior not wrack his back up and I am thankful for this young man’s help. J has become our driver as well. He got his license this year and now we let him drive us around town. He likes to do that and we don’t mind. It is a win win situation. We also have picked up a cheap sewing machine. My quilt is progressing and I am excited to have one more thing to fill my days with. Yup I feel like I am there finally. I clean, I cook, I walk, I do prayer time and read my Bible and life could not be sweeter. My days are full and it feels awesome. I have finally accepted the fact that this body can’t move as quickly and as long as it once did. I have learned how to work within my limitations and yup that feels nice too. I love cross stitch but threading the needle is a challenge. Until the cataracts are dealt with this is another struggle I must deal with. Junior has picked up something that should help me thread the needle so I am anxious to try that out as well. The Doctor wants Junior to go to a skin doctor to check on a spot he had removed last fall by our MI doctor. That makes me feel good so now all of the doctors we see are in VA. We will go to MI once or twice a year going forward till that will be too hard on us. I like the idea that we may soon start heading out for some overnight visits around the south and explore more. As I sit here and rest a moment I find a quiet contentment fill me. I once more fall in love with this new home, our boring life. We do not need drama for the sake of drama. I like that a whole bunch. Junior feels real good all the way down inside of me. We are friends, we tend to have the same goals and no we are not so in tune with each other that there are no differences between us. We have them for sure! Still we tend to accept the quirks we each have and we enjoy each other. There is a huge comfort that Junior is beside me as I figure out my struggles. He rejoices with me when I’ve overcome a hurdle and I tend to enjoy the fruits of his labors. The home he is building us is awesome. It will fit our needs as we continue to get older. That is an awesome feeling as well. My TV time is getting shorter and I am happy about that as well. I come in many nights now an hour or two later to start the evening TV watching. I like being a student at my own pace so the learning new things are fun and life is sweet. As I left my former marriage I began talking to God fairly much on a daily basis. I now think that being in a relationship with God is much like any relationship we may enter into. If it is going to work you need to talk to each other frequently. The more I learn to talk to God frequently the more I hear His directions. My life continues to have peace and even though it is not going how I imagined it would, I find I have peace. May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine on you. Love Janet