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Month: January 2016

It’s a Long Road, But I Am Here Still Truckin’!

It’s a Long Road, But I Am Here Still Truckin’!

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From Facebook
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From SRHS Class of 1974 Yearbook

Lynn Kleiberg White

Last week while most of us in the northeast and mid-atlantic were worrying about a snowstorm, another act of God was occurring. Someone, who we had become very accustomed to lifting us up, was finally herself being lifted up.

It’s a long road but I am still here truckin’!

Lynn Kleiberg White wrote that in a Facebook post on September 3, 2015. It was a long road, and while she was still here truckin’, she inspired us all.

The Re-Connect

Though we were friends in high school, I don’t know if I had seen Lynn since then, at least not until the SRHS Class of 1974 reunion in July of 2014.  However, sometime in early 2014 I connected with Lynn on Facebook. She was a great supporter of me and my Healthier, Happier Me blog, always with encouraging comments as well as for the races Kim and I were running that year.

Lynn: I will have to give the song a listen! Nice blog today Curt!

Lynn: Thanks Curt! You are a great storyteller! I always enjoy reading your blog! Good luck in your half marathon! I made it through the gamma knife radiation with flying colors yesterday. Very relieved! You have a great weekend too!

Lynn: Way to go Curt! Your efforts are for such a good cause!

Lynn: A physical? Oh BADWORD! Just kidding… July… thoughts of our reunion should help to keep you on the right track!

I didn’t spend much time on Facebook in 2015, so I lost some contact again.    Since our recent friendship was more of an on line event, I decided to go back and  review and reflect on what what I remembered and what I missed.

The Reunion

SRHS CLASS OF 1974!!!!!!

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July 28, 2014
Enjoying the reunion!

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The Humor

October 24, 2014

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June 25, 2015 ·
Lol

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The Always Positive and Always Encouraging

July 25, 2015
A huge THANK YOU to all my facebook family & friends for all of the Happy Birthday wishes! I am so glad that this chemo is not kicking my ass so hard that I can’t enjoy life, right now I am living it! Enjoying every moment & this beautiful weather! Thanks again y’all!

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August 15, 2014
My old friend Kate Farrell Reilly has invited me to be part of the Positive Postings challenge. The concept is to post 3 positive thoughts a day for 5 days & to invite 3 friends to do the same.

August 16, 2014
Day 2 of the Positive Postings challenge. …..

August 17, 2014
Positive postings… things I am grateful for. Day 3 of 5…

August 18, 2014
Ok… Day 4 of 5 of Positive Postings… things I am grateful for…..

August 19, 2014
Day 5 of 5 of Positive Postings. Things that I am grateful for…

 

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The Fight

July 30, 2014 ·
This fight is getting harder & harder…

September 23, 2014 ·
Standing Tall… It is a long & bumpy road, but I am still moving along!

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November 10, 2014 ·
6:20 pm Update: Sigh… taking a deep breath as I let the good news & not quite the news I expected today news settle in……I’m gonna kick that cancers ass! If “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is true, then I am a friggin, SUPERWOMAN! Thanks for your love & support!

December 14, 2014 ·
Hello friends & family! … I have started with my new chemotherapy routine & am coping so far. ……………Keeping my fingers crossed!
Yesterday was a great day!

June 15, 2015
Well, it is Chemo time again, Hooray! I am always glad to get treatments as planned!  … my team is still debating which way we will go with radiation. The internal radiation is not going to be done & I will likely have 5 external radiation treatments & some cryocautery to shrink the biggest tumor in my left lung. Looking forward to breathing easier!

August 15, 2015 ·
Chemo on Thursday & wide awake Friday night… Wondering & worrying… The new chemo is working on some tumors, but not all of them…….. I hope it is not 30 treatments again (I have done 30 three times in the past.)   … It was 12 years ago this week that I felt the lump that changed my life. Damn! I hate cancer!

September 3, 2015 ·
Radiation #7 of 14 today at Monmouth Medical- yay… half way there! Followed by chemo session #10 today at Adult Hemotology & Oncology. ……Now to schedule the Brain MRI & have the 3rd cryocautery procedure on 9/11. It’s a long road, but I am here still truckin’!

September 10, 2015 · Little Silver, NJ ·
Sometimes things get pretty crazy… I have been tolerating my radiation treatments pretty well (11 down, 3 to go) I am at chemo right now…….Tomorrow I will have radiation followed by another Bronchoscopy with cryocautery. Monday I will have radiation & a brain mri to be sure that tumor is gone. Tue will be my final radiation treatment. Thurs chemo again, then I will have a break for a week (thank goodness!) Thanks for your prayers for healing & your notes of concern. I hope that all of my fb friends & family are doing well!

October 7, 2015 ·
Hooray… Brain Radiation treatments are complete! Now on to today’s Upper Endoscopy with balloon dilation & CT/PET scan tomorrow. I’ll be glad when this week is over!

The End

January 14 at 5:53pm

Our friend Lynn Kleiberg White could use some positive energy, love and good juju right now. She’s having a difficult time since being pretty much confined to her bed for the last few weeks. She has to use oxygen and isn’t able to get out and enjoy the fresh air and beautiful view of the Keys. She has an appt with her onc next week to see what’s what. Cancer SUCKS! I’m posting this here with her permission.
So send some love or maybe post a nice nature pic of something she’ll enjoy. We all love you Lynn and are standing beside you in a circle of support and love.

January 23 at 9:53pm

Our dearest Lynn Kleiberg White is now at peace. She was the strongest person I have ever met. I admired her so much for her strength & determination to live. No more struggles to over come. You are I God’s arms now. Rest in peace. You will be in our hearts forever. We love you.

Final Thoughts

Lynn did much to prepare the rest of us for the harsh realities of what life can bring,  all the while encouraging us to seize the moment and not dwell on the negative.  Her bravery was inspiring, and surely her pain unimaginable and it truly was a long road.  I feel blessed I was able to experience her friendship again for a brief period.  My prayers go out to Lynn’s family and friends who shared her life and were always there.  From what I read,  you were awesome and inspiring too!

October 16, 2014 and “remembered” on October 16, 2015

Wish I was here..

i wish i was there

I am sure you are now my friend, I am sure you are.

 

September 3, 2014 ·

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Sheltering in Place Prodigiously

Sheltering in Place Prodigiously

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Cameron’s First Prodigious Snowstorm

I am currently sheltering in place.

I have never done that before. Or at least if I have, I have never called it that before. Sheltering in place is a frequently used term now but it is usually associated with something sinister. Thankfully I have never had to experience that and certainly feel for those who have.

But the radio stations are calling what I am doing this weekend sheltering in place. It makes it sound kind of scary and I feel like maybe I should be concerned.

Unlike the last time it snowed really bad in the DC area and I had to spend days in the house with my wife and kids without work to worry about….it was just called chillin’ then, having fun, relaxing in my place.

But now I am sheltering in place and now I look around the room and see my wife, my daughter, my grandson, and my cat….and I wonder what sinister deed should I be worried about?

Is Savannah going to make her hamburger and codfish casserole again for dinner tonight? That could certainly be scary…

And will the power go out causing us to lose the cable TV and the internet? That would be dastardly too!

And what is the cause of all this commotion?

This Prodigious snow storm they are calling Jonas!

pro·di·gious

1. remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree.
Synonyms: enormous, huge, colossal, immense, vast, great, massive, gigantic, mammoth, tremendous, inordinate, monumental

Okay I am not ashamed to admit that I had to look that word up after the news guy on the radio used it to describe this storm. I have always been mindful of the fact that my vocabulary was not prodigious. And though I have tried to work on that, I have always been a little self-conscious about it; especially since I enjoy writing.

The radio announcements kept encouraging everyone to stock up on nonperishables in case the power went out; to get gas for our cars and generators; to get batteries for our flashlights; and to get cash in case the power goes out and the ATM’s don’t work.

And the people listened because the truth is there has been a prodigious reaction by everyone who lives around here to this prodigious storm and there is probably not a gallon of milk between here and Pittsburgh.

Well, at least most listened.

You see, all that was kind of a problem for me. A week from payday and my bank account was anything but prodigious. I had a prodigious amount of batteries but they were the little ones since my wife and I didn’t communicate well at Christmas and we both bought prodigious amounts of AA and AAA batteries. So I scoured the house for little flashlights… you know the kind they hand out at trade shows or make key chains out of.

And I didn’t have any nonperishables. I had plenty of food in the freezers….but those are perishable. I suppose I could barbeque as the thaw occurred but did I have enough propane? And I suppose if things got really bad around here we could eat the cat…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

food, yeah we could eat the cat food since that’s a nonperishable… but no I think I would be digging my way to a MacDonald’s in a warm State by that point…….

But then it occurred to me that maybe what’s really sinister about all this is this word prodigious……..maybe that’s what is really bothering me.

Maybe it isn’t just my vocabulary that is not prodigious, maybe that is not the only thing I have to be self-conscious about. Maybe there are other aspects of me that are not prodigious…my 401K…my master bathroom…my intelligence…my chest hair…

..so just leave me alone while I shelter in place.

Oh well, I guess we all can’t be prodigious in every way.  At least I have lots of batteries for the remote control.

You know I always thought it was really annoying when you could tell that someone just learned a new word because they insisted on using that new word prodigiously.

Man I hate that.

Crossing the Street

Crossing the Street

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See, not bad for 240 years. That’s my mother in the middle.

Again this week I heard a story on the radio about the deer herd posing a threat to our local society and the need to thin out the herd with sharpshooters. Also recently, Chris Core, a commentator on WTOP radio here in DC did a piece on the dangers of crossing the street making the point that we were too engrossed in our electronics and as a result, were getting hit by cars. Okay Curt so what is the connection you say?

I remembered a similar story and situation that occurred a few years ago with deer causing traffic accidents and pedestrians getting hit way too frequently, which at the time was also big news on WTOP radio. They decided to thin the deer herd then too. During this particular situation, the local service announcements were stressing that pedestrians in a crosswalk had the right of way and drivers beware. Of course we know that is true, but I thought maybe a little common sense might also be appropriate and at that time I wrote this:

Crossing the Street

I heard recently of a plan to thin out the deer herd in Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC by using sharp shooters. They were posing a danger to the community. The radio station was taking calls from listeners on how they felt about that.

I think the whole problem with the deer is really just that they don’t know how to cross the street. They keep jumping out in front of cars and causing accidents. This results in thousands of dollars’ worth of property damage to our motor vehicles, injury or death to humans who hit them, not to mention that it causes our car insurance rates to go up. Since it’s important that we build more strip malls and office parks, apartment complexes, and the roads to get to them, the deer have to learn to deal with that. Besides, there are more than enough wooded common areas, medians, cemeteries, and golf courses for deer to hang out in. Why do they need to be crossing the street anyway?

But the fact is we now have the same problem with humans. They don’t know how to cross the street either. And they keep getting hit too and causing property damage and emotional stress, injury and even death. But you don’t hear anyone proposing to thin out the human population with sharp shooters because they keep on jumping out in front of cars. No, unlike the deer, when a human steps out in front of a car, and by the way the local government encourages this as long as they are in a crosswalk, it’s the fault of the driver of the vehicle of course. Public service announcements have convinced humans they have the right of way and therefore it’s perfectly within their rights to step out in front of an oncoming car. And so they do.

I think the solution to the problem is education. We need to teach the deer and now humans how to cross the street. It’s that simple. And I know just the person to head this program……… my mother.

My mother successfully taught my two brothers, my sister, and I to cross the street without getting hit by a car. And collectively that is almost 240 man years without an incident of walking out in front of a car and being struck (and I won’t tell you who most of those man years are attributed to because she wouldn’t like it).

In addition to that, my mother has taught her Portuguese Water dog to sit down on the side of the road when she (the dog) hears a car coming. Think about it, now that is a solid resume’. Of course she is retired now and I don’t know if she would be willing to take on such a responsibility as this. But she is a conscientious woman, a patriot, and a lover of animals; plus she paid car insurance in New Jersey for years so I know she is sensitive to insurance rates.

Can you imagine if she was able to teach those humans that the local governments currently encourage stepping out into traffic, to actually stop at the side of the road and look both ways before crossing the street? What a gift this would be to society!

And how about if she was able to teach deer to sit down on the side of the road every time one of them heard a car coming? What a public service that would be!

I think some serious Economic Stimulation money needs to be set aside for this.

It’s just that simple.
All that is pretty silly right? But, I still have people stepping out in front of my truck without stopping or looking. And Chris Core had a good point too, we are distracted walkers as well as drivers.

As for the deer I don’t have a solution. At least they are feeding the homeless with the meat generated from the thinning of the herd.

Just be careful out there!

A Very Special Unexpected Birthday Gift

A Very Special Unexpected Birthday Gift

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Dear Donny,

Today was your birthday.

It was a Saturday and much like any other Saturday we got up early because we couldn’t sleep. We had our coffee, checked our email and our Facebook, and did some work-work leftover from Friday.

We remembered your birthday on Facebook.

Many times I have described that time after Thanksgiving when the Christmas decorations come out of the trunks and down from the attic as bittersweet, as the memories are unpacked one at a time and placed on the tree or on the mantle. It is our darkness in the brilliant light of the season; fourteen seasons now to be exact.

And though we celebrated, laughed, and enjoyed this holiday as much as anyone, there will always be something that will be missing in our hearts as hard as we try to ignore it each year. That one thing we can’t unpack, hold in our hands for that short time, put away and wait anxiously for next year when we can take it out again and hold it once more.

If only we could.

But we do have our memories and each year we work hard to make sure we keep them alive because we don’t ever want to forget.

And normally by New Year’s Eve the lights are out, the tree is down, and the ornaments are packed away.

This year however was different, we were late. This year…..your birthday….. today, was the day that the ornaments were taken down and the lights rolled up, and everything returned to its place in the attic for another year.

And it really was different. Your mother and I were busy. We found some old CD’s and we listened to music that we listened to when we were dating. We were singing, we laughed,  and we were not sad.

“Tonight I ask the stars above, how did I ever win your love.
What did I do, what did I say, to turn your angel eyes my way”

We were happy.

And now as we prepare to sleep, we put this, yet another nice memory to bed. You see?  You can still make them!

Thank you for sharing, what would have been your twenty ninth birthday with us today. And thank you because on this birthday, it was us who received the gift.

Happy Birthday Buddy

Facebook, ReTrumplicans, and Peanut Butter Things

Facebook, ReTrumplicans, and Peanut Butter Things

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trump

My wife is not on Facebook. She doesn’t have a Facebook account and is adamant about the fact that she will never have a Facebook account.

Kim: “I don’t have Facebook and I never will have Facebook!!!”

I have a Facebook account. I have had it for a while but never really paid much attention to it until January of 2014 when I started a blog for work called Happier, Healthier Me and wanted to share it and follow the attention it got. My wife didn’t like the fact that I was on social media.

Kim: “So you are on Facebook now?”

Me: “Yes I need to use it for work, for the blog I am writing.”

Kim: “Do you have a girlfriend on Facebook?”

Me: “No, no Kim I just need to watch it for work stuff, it’s just work…”

Kim: “I can see it now you will hook up with someone on Facebook and leave me…”

Me: “No seriously I will never leave you, it’s just work, I promise!”

The truth is however, she doesn’t have a Facebook account but she likes to get on my Facebook.
The other evening she was logged on. The reason I know this is because I was upstairs reading How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie, a book I got for Christmas, when I checked my cell phone to find it was lit up with Facebook alerts.

Me: “Kim……you are on my Facebook account?”

Kim: “Yes, I was just watching a video.”

Me: “Kim, did you know that you shared that video post on my page? Not just once but twice? And I am getting likes and comments? And did you know that post was about baking? About Peanut butter fudge things? Not about sports; or cool things like guitars; not about surf fishing……it was about baking……peanut butter things! I don’t even like peanut butter things!”

Not only that, she even sent out a friend request that got accepted!

Me: “Kim you have to be careful! What if I was a Democrat and you were sharing Republican propaganda? What if I was a Republican and you were sharing Democratic propaganda? And What if I was a ReTrumplican and you were sharing Hillary stuff, or the other way around? I have a reputation to maintain you know. I would prefer that not be done with peanut butter fudge recipes! You have to be very careful with what you post on social media!”

So we laughed, it was kind of funny. I really don’t mind her on my Facebook, it might be a blessing she doesn’t have her own account!  And I am okay with the peanut butter recipe video too since I do like to cook.
And maybe once I finish reading How To Win Friends & Influence People I will have more Facebook friends for Kim to connect with.
And by the way, if you are not familiar with the Happier, Happier Me blog from 2014 I have posted the links on a separate page on this website if you care to read them.
Thanks again for letting me share.

Three Score and Counting

Three Score and Counting

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Score One

It is January 1st 1956 and I am alive. I am not breathing but it is okay. I am not eating but that is okay too, I am not hungry.
It is dark and I cannot see, but my eyes do not see anyway, yet I am starting to squint.
The claustrophobia that will plague me later in life is not a problem now.
I am starting to suck my thumb and I am about the size of a lemon.
For maybe the only time in my life, I am safe and warm and content.
The lifeline that keeps me alive is my mother.
In less than six months I have a name. I have a brother who is 2 and half years older than me and a sister four years older.  Within five years I have a younger brother as well.
I go to school when I am five. Fearful of embarrassment and disappointment, I do well in school, at least until the distractions of my early teenage years win over the priorities that should concern me.
By the end of high school those priorities are realized once more. But unfortunately the damage is done and the old college try ends in its first year, emotionally unprepared.
I begin to build the work ethic that will drive me later in life, though my mind is still not prepared.

Score Two

 

It is January 1st 1976 and I am still alive, though sometimes I wonder how.

I am breathing but some might say I am just taking up air. I am hungry and I am eating.
My lifeline is still my mother.
I continue to work and take another try at building my mind but again that is short lived.
I follow my misguided heart away from my childhood home to a new life in a new state. This time I finish my education and find a career.
I have a daughter, then four years later I have another.
My career does well and I advance up the ladder.
But at home hearts grow cold and mending seems hopeless.

Score Three

It is January 1st 1996 and I am still alive. In less than six months I will turn forty years old.
Cold hearts prevailed and soon I am on my own again, my lifeline is now just me.
But that doesn’t last too long as an angel appears and half way into the millennial year my life is shared once again with a new wife and daughter and son.
So now married again with two more children we blend our families the best that we can and we are happy.
Though my career begins the score nicely it ends early in and before the summer of 2000 a new one is cultivated.

I am starting all over again.

But the work ethic kicks in and we do what we need to do to take care of our new family.
Then tragedy strikes with an accident one day that takes the life of our son at the age of fifteen.
And though never the same our family moves forward with the help of God.

More changes occur as the kids grow older.
Now with two grandchildren and the kids all grown up, we still work to make it all good every day, learning that kids will always be kids no matter how old they get.
Working too hard, life seems always too stressful, as the third score comes to an end.   Once again career changes occur and the rebuilding begins once more, though this late in life I am not so sure.

I am no longer the size of a lemon, far from it. And though my eyes are working I struggle to see and the squinting that started at fourteen weeks is frequent again.
And though I don’t suck my thumb, some days I feel like I want to. And I have learned that safe, warm, and content are all relative now.

My lifeline is my wife. Without her I would starve physically and emotionally. We have endured much the last almost twenty years. Yet it seems like just yesterday that I was blessed with that first introduction. Contentment in this part of my life is not relative.

And Counting

Now it is January 1st, 2016 and yes I am still alive and breathing.  In less than six months I will turn 60 years old.  I have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to in what may be my last 20 years though modern medicine may challenge that.
And on this day let the musings begin as I embark on a new adventure and my fourth score.
Happy New Year