Give It A Year They Said.. Give It A Year..

After my surgery last year it was recommended that I give my body a year or so to heal before I started doing anything "strenuous" again. Yesterday I found out why.

I played 18 holes of golf for the first time since I had my stomach removed.

The original agreement with the doctors was that I would wait to play golf until next summer. I am not sure if this was to protect me or to give the local fairways I had been on a chance to grow back. I don't know, six of one, half dozen of the other I guess. Still I checked in with my doctor on Friday and got the OK to get back out there and swing away.

One thing that they did tell me was that I might be surprised to find out how much a round of golf would take out of me. What? It was a round of golf. It was a best ball tournament for heavens sake and we were riding in a cart. How much energy could it take?
I was about to find out.

The first five or six holes went just fine. I didn't play all that well, but my energy level was up and I felt good. We laughed and made jokes as we made our way around the course.

About the 6th hole or so, I started noticing that I was getting tired. The clubs seemed heavier and they took a lot more energy to swing. I figured that I just needed some food so I snacked up. I got some chips, some water and figured it would tied me over until the end of the round when we would eat.
I got this... Or so I thought..

By the time we started staring down the last four or five fairways, I was wiped. I had to pull myself out of the golf cart. It took all of the energy I had to swing even my lightest clubs. I mean we were ridding in golf carts and it felt as if I had just walked the entire course. My energy was just gone.

I like to stay active. I am just not sure how you stay active when you have to continually worry about stuffing your face with food just so you do not run out of gas.

Anyway, they say that a bad day golfing is better than a good day working and it does still hold true for me. As tired as I was by the end of the round I still had an amazing time. The best part of the day was spending some time with a lifelong friend that I do not get to see nearly often enough. I just pray that we do not wait another two years to see each other again.

Seventeen has turned thirty-five
I'm surprised that we're still livin'
If we've done any wrong I hope that we're forgiven
Got a few kids of my own
And some days I still don't know what to do
(Cherry Bomb  John Mellencamp)

The Ties That Bind

"As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would tear us apart, all will be well."  (Basic Text of the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous pg.57)

This past Saturday was our 28^th wedding anniversary. What a difference a year makes. This year, I worked at the store in the morning which left us the evening to relax and enjoy each other’s company. We had an early dinner at the River Inn, won some money at pull tabs (then gave it back), and then buzzed the town on our mopeds. We finished off the evening with a cocktail, some popcorn, and rented the movie “The Jungle Book”. All in all a good night.

Later today we will finish up our anniversary weekend with all the kids and an evening of laughter and games. Jenny and Sam are in town for the weekend which makes it even more special. This will probably be the last time we get to see them before the baby is born.

Last year, over our anniversary, I was just starting my weekly runs back and forth to the Mayo Clinic. They were beginning to suspect that a stricture had formed, but had not decided on starting dilations yet. In fact for our anniversary I was lucky that I wasn't spending additional time in the hospital, or that I was not enjoying my dinner through a Pic line. It was just the beginning of a really tough stretch in our lives. We were looking at traveling down a long tunnel of worry and not knowing, but we made it though. It just took some time.  

You lose count of anniversaries so I wanted to write about this one. I mean we have spent our anniversary together and separated. Our anniversary has arrived when we were sick or when we had sick kids to take care of. We have spent them in mourning over loved ones lost or with family and friends celebrating life. We even spent one, six years ago, in the intensive care unit at the University of Minnesota after I started hemorrhaging at dinner. So this year having one that was low key and relaxing was nice.  

The longer you stay together the more that can and will happen. The more that happens the stronger the ties that bind you together become. Just think, next year we should be celebrating our first anniversary as Grandparents. It's gonna be a good year..

Happy Anniversary Edie.

You should know, Everywhere I go
Always on my mind,
You're in my heart, In my soul

(You’re The Inspiration  Chicago)