So today is my sixty-fourth birthday and Lynn has been singing this old Beatle’s song under his breath all day:

The song was written by Paul McCartney of the Beatles when he was just sixteen years old and it apparently was inspired by his “lover”. I can’t imagine having a lover at sixteen, nor can I imagine that Paul McCartney or anyone else at that age has a clue about getting old but amazingly, it is pretty apropos.   

I was tempted to write a poem about it … “There’s an awful lot of learning on the way to getting old” … but it sounded too much like “A Heap o’ Living” written by Edgar A. Guest.   When I thought about it, his poem pretty much sums up what I wanted to say, anyway.  

      I guess I’ve just been caught up in lots of memories today.   It’s a funny thing about memories because the farther away you get from them, the more they become like treasurers.  The hard times lose their sharp edges from a distance and you begin to recognize them as stepping stones along life’s path.  Each stone and hurdle moves you toward the next stone and the next set of hurdles, and hopefully helps you gain the confidence and encouragement you need to make you better prepared to handle them.     We may start out with baby steps, but right now I’m most grateful for the giant steps in my life.    I’m going to fall back on those experience to help me through the challenges that lie ahead with my health.

      So … Happy Birthday to me from Edgar A. Guest …

It Takes A Heap O’Livin” by Edgar A. Guest

It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home,
A heap o’ sun an’ shadder, an’ ye sometimes have t’ roam
Afore ye really ‘preciate the things ye lef’ behind,
An’ hunger fer ‘em somehow, with ‘em allus on yer mind.
It don’t make any differunce how rich ye get t’ be,
How much yer chairs an’ tables cost, how great yer luxury;
It ain’t home t’ ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o’ wrapped round everything.

Home ain’t a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it’s home there’s got t’ be a heap o’ livin’ in it;
Within the walls there’s got t’ be some babies born, and then
Right there ye’ve got t’ bring ‘em up t’ women good, an’ men;
And gradjerly as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn’t part
With anything they ever used—they’ve grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an’ if ye could ye’d keep the thumb-marks on the door.

Ye’ve got t’ weep t’ make it home, ye’ve got t’ sit an’ sigh
An’ watch beside a loved one’s bed, an’ know that Death is nigh;
An’ in the stillness o’ the night t’ see Death’s angel come,
An’ close the eyes o’ her that smiled, an’ leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an’when yer tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an’ sanctified;
An’ tuggin’ at ye always are the pleasant memories
O’ her that was an’ is no more—ye can’t escape from these.

Ye’ve got t’ sing an’ dance fer years, ye’ve got t’ romp an’ play,
An’ learn t’ love the things ye have by usin’ ‘em each day;
Even the roses ’round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they ‘come a part o’ ye, suggestin’ someone dear
Who used t’ love ‘em long ago, an’ trained ‘em jes t’ run
The way they do, so’s they would get the early mornin’ sun;
Ye’ve got t’ love each brick an’ stone from cellar up t’ dome:
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home.

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Goodbye 2010.    When all is said and done, it was another beautiful year for our family.    News stations globally recount their best ten stories of the year and so shall I; although I can’t put them in order of importance.      So … in random order (drum roll please) Grandma Henke’s “Top Ten from Two Thousand Ten”!

1.     Our oldest grandchild, Aubree, graduated from high school and she now is continuing her education at  Western Washington University.    She is a beautiful young lady with a love and enthusiasm for life and is skilled in home made lasagna and fudge!   I started a tradition of giving each grandchild a crocheted afghan to celebrate this achievement in their lives.

 

2.    We discovered another favorite   “Home away from Home” to park our motor home and spend the hot part of another summer in the cool mist of the ocean breeze.    My brother, Bill, and his wife were able to come and visit us there and we loved being able to show them around and share our love coastal living.    The time went by too quickly!       It was fun to have Kimberly’s family come and  spend days with us as well; particularly since there was a huge field and playground right near where we were parked and the children could play and run to their heart’s content.     The sunsets, of course, are always the perfect cap to any day.    

3.      The days of buckets catching the rain as it pours through the light fixture in the family room are over and our home sports a new red roof, made of steel.   No more leaks!!! No more mildew!!!   No more worrying anxiously about collapse!

4.        There are 29 healthy and, happy Lynn W. Henke’s in our family and we were able to spend wonderful days with them throughout the year.     Our quiver is full, as are our hearts.     We are so grateful for family and the love that passes freely from each member to the others.   Grateful that even the littlest cousins are aware of this great blessing of family.   It was fun when Brett and Kim’s family traveled to Washington and we celebrated the 4th of July with a fire fireworks extravaganza by Warren, Brett, and Brandon Allsop. 

5.      I loved spending our 44th year  together with the man of my dreams.   

6.      The world is at my fingertips with just the click of a key, and with another miraculous touch of a keypad I am connected in real time visually and audibly with people I love.    I love all of the gadgets my sweetie gets for me.

7.      I found the most wonderful online support group for my PAH and I think in the process I found some new BFF’s (Best Friends Forever). 

8.       Lynn had both of his knees replaced with brand new, titanium ones and he is mobile once more!   We’re so grateful he went through it so successfully; grateful for the doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and other hospital personnel who took such good care of him.

9.      Ryan and Yeimy returned home safely from all of their  travel adventures, the latest being a Hawaii and Costa Rica.   Warren and Mikayla also had a safe and fabulous time going to Greece. That trip completed Warren’s promise to his children to take each one of them anywhere in the world on the dream trip of their choosing.

10.    Each of our children’s families had their worries and challenges in 2010, but each were blessed with the health, strength and wisdom to make it through successfully!     We have confidence that in this new year they will do it again.      Our grandchildren remain at the top of the Leader Board of all grandchildren.    (At least they are the top of our Leader Board.)   They bring us so much joy we can’t put it into adequate words.   They show capabilities and talents that amaze us and we love to watch their progress in school, listen to their stories and music, and cheer them on in their challenges.     We can’t imagine a better station in life than being Grandpa and Grandma Henke.

#1:   

Of all the beautiful Christmas traditions passed down through the years, Christmas carols have definitely got to be at the top of my list.   Some of my most pleasant memories are standing around our big old piano singing while Mom played..    We had soprano, alto, bass, 1st and second tenor, and baritone and there were only seven of us!    Mom used to sing tenor.     We would turn off all of the lights except the Christmas ones and sing carol after carol after carol in the soft, warm glow from the fire.    It was beautiful … absolutely beautiful … the colors, the atmosphere, and the singing.     (Click here for lyrics and music to 51 Christmas carols.)

#2:

Gift giving is one of the joyful traditions of Christmas.   After all, it was from Jesus Christ that we received the greatest gift of all. 

A couple of years ago I received a little wooden plaque that puts it into perspective: 

 “The magic of Christmas is not in the Presents, but in His Presence.”  

#3

My sweetheart’s unselfish acts of service to me are making my season bright.    

From the moment we pulled into our driveway after spending our five months in Washington, I have been ill.   After several trips to the doctor and one test after another at the hospital, we still don’t know for sure what is causing my extreme weakness and shortness of breath.    I’m on oxygen now, day and night.     I can take care of my own personal needs but to shower and get dressed has to be broken down into four segments so I can rest and catch my breath between.   Walking from the bedroom to the family room leaves me out of breath and exhausted.  I spend my days sitting in a recliner with my feet up.   

It could be very dreary around here if Lynn let it happen, but he doesn’t.    He is cheerful and helpful at any hour of the day or night.   He puts extra thought into preparing foods that will tweak my appetite, checks on me often to see if there is something I need or want, he does the dishes every night before he goes to bed, does the laundry, runs the vacuum, runs the errands, brings me books and movies, covers me when I fall asleep, sits by me now and then to hold my hand, tells me interesting stories, makes me laugh with his silly jokes and comments, and watches movies with me late at night because I am in less pain when I sit up than when I lie down.     He lets me shop on line, brings me diet cokes, walks the dog, changes the litter for the cat, feeds & waters them, has hung the Christmas lights, decorated our tree … and all with a joyful countenance.  

One day I apologized to him for being “such a burden”.   He was quick to put his arms around me, express his love, and assure me I am not.   It might have been hard to believe him … except for the wonderful way he treats me.     Anyone would be hard pressed to find a better man than the one I am married to.       I am so grateful.

#4

Thank goodness for the “Falala Lifetime”.    In case you are unaware, it is one of the television stations showing G rated “Harlequin” type Christmas movies one after another after another.    Click here if you would like a listing of movies and times.    I think I’ve seen them all.  

I’ll tell you what is the best medicine … grandchildren!     This is our “off” year  for Thanksgiving with most of our kids …  I mean, they DO have other sides of their families, after all.    Lynn and I considered having a fake Thanksgiving dinner out our house the Saturday or Sunday before Thanksgiving but we are in the middle of some remodeling.   That, and the not feeling up to par factor, prompted Lynn and I to have our alternative (better word than fake since we are, indeed, all sincerely grateful) Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pizza Factory.      Tonight was the night, and it was oh so fun!   Soooooo fun!    It definitely deserves five stars!  

At the beginning of our meal it was agreed upon by everyone that if this was to be a true substitute Thanksgiving dinner we needed to be stuffed when we were done!    Three Family sized pizza’s, 12 salads, 12 bread sticks later, and 17 drinks later … we were stuffed and we filled 3 boxes with pizza and bread sticks to take home.  

The grandkids and I started swapping fun cousin stories and before long we were really wishing the families who live in Washington were there with us.   So, the kids and I decided it’s time to start a cousin’s newsletter.   We appointed a reporter from each family who will send information to me and I will compile it and see that it gets distributed to everyone.   (Mikayla, do you accept your assignment?)   We want to do a calendar of events even though we are widespread and can’t possibly attend everyone’s recitals and school programs because it will still be fun to know what is happening in each other’s lives on any given day.     I’m so grateful the cousins feel so close to each other in spite of the miles of separation.

We all know that laughter is the best medicine … and I have to reinforce that by saying how good I felt when we got home tonight.    There is scientific proof that laughing reduces pain, ups our tolerance levels, reduces blood sugar levels, and helps your blood vessels carry needed oxygen throughout your body!   (Sign me up for some Tim Conway/Don Knotts movies).    I don’t need scientific proof.    I’ve known that for as long as I have known anything … because of how it worked in our home as I was growing up.     Oh the blessings of coming from a long line of laughers!

One poor little grandson was sick tonight.     He tried to tough it out because he wanted to be there so much, but it was obvious that he was not doing so well.     Grandpa and I owe him a new dinner (since he eventually lost tonight’s dinner in an untimely manner outside of the restaurant, triggering on onset of  gags  and moans from his “gagger” relatives.    This seems to be a weakness from the Matheson (my mother’s maiden name) line because I don’t recall my dad had the problem … nor does Lynn.    Gagging can’t be avoided if you have the gene.   We can gag at the drop of a hat, the sound of a retch, the whiff of you know what (don’t want to really say the word since just reading it could be a trigger).    We can gag at the thought of someone else gagging but if you have enough time passes we can laugh about it.      Some of our funniest family stories are about gagging if you can stand to listen to them.      (Repeating those funny stories has to come from the Henke side of the family.)  

The most thankful aspect of our alternative Thanksgiving meal was when we all stood up, put our napkins down, and left 17 people’s worth of dirty dishes on the table to be cleaned up by someone else!  

And now … pardon my gush as I share some of the things I am so thankful for on this alternate Thanksgiving Day: Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, an A+++ husband and our eternal love, five children and their families who are the light and love of my life),  parents who raised me in a home filled with love, laughter, and safety and who taught me to love by their good example, siblings who have always loved and supported me unconditionally, nieces and nephews and their families, wonderful fun grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, faithful friends throughout my entire life,  good ward families over the years, dedicated teachers, sturdy homes over the years, child friendly neighborhoods where I could raise my children, educational opportunities, a vehicle we can count on, the opportunity to travel the last two summers and visit our families who live in Washington, health that is good enough to allow me to do those things I love most, computers, Internet (and the new friendships I’ve made there), talents, living in a country I love.   This list is just a start; I have been very blessed.

So, I will just say one word “deadbolt”.   That’s innocent enough, isn’t it?   I don’t see how just saying deadbolt would hurt anyone’s feelings.

I would also like to say “Lock Smith”.       Can I just say that?    I mean shoot, anyone who wanted to could call one up any time they wanted … if they wanted … and who would be the wiser?    Sometimes I suppose someone would be the wiser but that is not for me to say.

“Do it yourself” is a catchy phrase as is “Save Money”.    They generally are said together but they don’t necessarily go together.     There are a variety of variables to consider.

“Defective Part”   What are the odds?

Three trips to Home Depot might not sound innocent at first, but I bet lots of people make three trips to Home Depot in one day.   Heck, I personally know people who have done that!

“All Day” is innocent enough, too, so I feel okay saying that.    A lot of things could happen in an entire day if one wanted to be doing a lot of different things.    Quite a variety of things, I would suppose.

I’m dying to tell the story of today but out of respect for someone whose identity I will not reveal … my lips are sealed.     I may laugh and make fun in the privacy of my own home, but some things are just better left unsaid.    I guess.    At least that’s what I’ve been told.

By the way, Lynn has promised me a new front door!    Can you believe that?     A new front door!    I shall paint it red to match the roof!

He is definitely the one and only Fix It Man.

Sometimes, the problem with patience s that people might get the wrong impression and conclude that “it doesn’t really matter very much to you” so they tend to move your problem to the bottom of their to do list.  We all know that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”.   My virtue is being squeaky.  

I’ve had an “ordeal” the last three weeks trying to get some medicines that were prescribed for me.    They were prescribed, but the pharmacy couldn’t give them to me because they had to be pre-approved.     To cut a three week story short, the problem went from the pharmacy to the insurance company to the doctor’s office, to me, back to the pharmacy … etc. etc. etc. until I almost ran out of patience.    Okay, so I ran clear out of patience.     I needed my prescriptions and I wasn’t getting them but I didn’t know who to be the most impatient with since it was everyone else’s fault and everyone I talked with about it sounded concerned.   Savy?   It was nobody’s fault!   Clearly that is reason enough to draw an “impatient” wild card!    

I have to admire Lynn’s patience while he has been a patient, though.  Like when we got home from the hospital and I ran inside to get the walker for him, ran back out to the car and helped him up to the front door only to realize I’d just locked the keys in the house and there he was standing in front of the door on his two brand knew knees.    He had to stand there until our son, Brett, could bring us the extra set of keys from his house … and he was STILL patient!   Another example?  He eats whatever I fix him, whenever I fix it,  even if I try to slip a little yogurt into his smoothies.    He doesn’t complain if I go to the kitchen to fill his ice gadget and get side tracked and load the dish washer and start dinner instead.  

I think it would be a pretty notable moment if I was pretty much at the mercy of a loved one and they did something like that and I wasn’t a little bit snippy when I asked a second time for the ice pack.   

Okay, here’s the funny part of it all.   People think I’m patient.   I’m sort of like a chameleon when it comes to some of the virtues.   I can appear to be patient, relaxed, and calm when I really don’t feel that way.     I learned it either while I was raising my five children and/or while I was the Executive Director of a non profit agency for that served people with cognitive disabilities for twenty years.      The difference in Lynn and I is that he actually feels patient when he appears patient.

It takes a lot to get Lynn riled.    Those of us who have achieved this in our lifetime aren’t proud of it because when it happens it means we’ve really gone too far on something “we knew better” than to do.     Everyone who has done it remembers exactly why it happened and where they were at the time.    With me, on the other hand, people don’t tend to remember particular instances … well unless you count times like when I threw a 32 ounce diet coke on one of my sons, one splash at a time, by shaking it through the hole for the straw on the lid of a mug.   Everyone remembers that.

But you see, Lynn has a low score on his blood pressure because of his “patience” and I have a high score on mine because of  my lack of it.   His way is by far the better plan but in all honesty he shouldn’t get a lot of credit for it if it is clearly in his genes.    I personally think that when “genes” are in the equation it changes everything.    Heck, even I could be patient if it was in my gene pool!       So there, Lynn!   You who sit  so patiently on your throne of bed pillows and ice packs … you are an imposter because it comes naturally.     It is I, the patient shirker, who should be applauded.

Right now he’s sleeping like a baby (sorry Fairbourn’s … not like your baby apparently).    Considering what the man has been through the last twenty four hours, I think he’s entitled!

So what I’m trying to do is decide if I’m going to be needed here tonight.  To be or not to be. I asked Lynn earlier what I should do and he was really wishy washy, sort of like he is when I ask him where we should go out to eat.   Why he’d worry about that I don’t know since it’s obvious I like to eat any where and any time.    However, tonight I’m torn  because even though it appears he won’t need me, I want to be here “in case” he needs me.   He wants me “to be comfortable and where I will do the least amount of worrying”.  The problem is those two things aren’t on the same side of the fence.

Here is a sample of why I worry:   This morning Lynn was absolutely fine and was joshing with me while he sat in the chair at the side of his bed, but the minute I slipped into the bathroom he suddenly needed me quick.    I heard him call so I hurried to wash my hands quick and get out to him.   I couldn’t have been gone 90 seconds.     When I glanced at him from across the room he looked like he was asleep with his head hanging to one side but when I got closer  I saw his eyes were glazed over and vacant, and he wasn’t moving.

“Lynn!” I said in a panic, “Are you okay?”   No response at all.   “LYNN!   ARE YOU OKAY?” I asked loudly as I noted his color was grayish/whitish.   I grabbed his arm, which was ice cold, and yelled out again as I reached for the call button.   I thought he was dead or had suffered a stroke and my heart literally jumped into my throat.    “LYNN!”  I shouted as I shook his arm and an aide came running into the room.    This time he opened his eyes and looked at me in a dazed stupor.    “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” I asked for the fourth or fifth or sixth time.    By then nurses were coming in a rush and they took over.       He started to respond to them when suddenly he was gone again.      His blood pressure was 55/30 and his oxygen level was below 60.    It had gone from a normal blood pressure and oxygen level to that low in just the minute I was in the bathroom.

They lowered the back of his chair and raised his feet and gradually over the next half hour they got his blood pressure and oxygen up to safer levels before they started slowly raising his head again so they could get him stabilized enough to put him in bed.     They explained to me that this type of thing isn’t unusual after major surgery but it’s important to get the levels up quickly.   It felt unusual to me as I sat over on the sofa  trying to get my blood pressure and heart beat back down wiping away tears so Lynn wouldn’t see them and worry about me.

The rest of the day went much better … much, much better.   He did his afternoon physical therapy and ate his meals and cracked his dumb jokes and I have been very grateful for him.  I even laughed at the dumb jokes, some of which were funny.

There was one other highlight of the day, which neither Lynn or I realized was going to be a highlight.  After having an IV pushing liquids into him all day and everyone else pushing liquids at him all day, he practically filled his urinal to the top.   When the nurses came in and saw it. they clapped and cheered.      It turns out the reason for the standing ovation was that they were ready to catheterize him and were really happy they didn’t have to after all he’d been through.   He was rather chagrined by it for a moment until he remembered that when our doggy pee’s where she should pee she gets a treat.

Oh, and there was one more highlight of sorts … for me at least.    It came time to get him dressed for therapy this afternoon and two cute nurses came in to help him.   They said if he preferred, he could have me help him instead.    He chose me!

You can see why I’ve been torn as to whether I should go home or stay, but now it’s no longer a question.   Just reminding myself of all  he’s gone through in the last 24 hours was enough to tip the scale.   I’m staying.  Even though he has received top notch care from everyone involved,  I need to stay here because he hates to bother people and I’m good at it.  Everybody knows that.

It started around 3:00 AM when he suddenly awakened from a sound sleep and realized he’d taken the wrong pills.    Not wanting to wake me up to give him the two pain pills that were due, he’d taken them himself.      He panicked when he realized shortly afterward that he’d taken two Coumadin instead of the two Loratab.     He was afraid to get out of bed for fear he’d fall and do something that would make him bleed, and his attempts to arouse me from my sleep in the bedroom down the hall weren’t working.   Apparently I slept through him yelling, my telephone, the bell I’d given him to ring so I would come running, and the television volume which he’d turned full blast.

“EDNA … EDNA, HELP”, I finally heard from the far side of my foggy slumber.         

“I’m up,” I called out as I stumbled from my bed thinking it was morning.   “I’m coming!”

He was clearly shaken as he told me he’d made a serious mistake and I needed to call the hospital and let them know he’d overdosed his Coumadin.   That brought me wide awake, but right after my heart started racing I remembered I’d put them safely in a drawer just so he wouldn’t make that kind of mistake in the night.   I tried to calm him but he was insistent and worried.    

“No, No, I know I didn’t take the pain pills.  I took two of those big, multi-colored capsules,” he told me.   “I’d better start eating broccoli.”    (Broccoli is full of Vitamin A which is one thing that might counteract some of the affects of the drug.)

I got out the two pill bottles and counted them to be sure, and showed him that the pills in questions were not big and multi colored, but were small and round.      All of the pills that should have been in the bottles were accounted for.

Hubby was relieved when I finally convinced him he’d had a bad dream and wasn’t going to bleed to death, and I was relieved when I realized it was only 4:00 in the morning and I could go back to bed.

Since there is not room in the bed for the two of us and his sore leg, tonight I adjusted the ring on my cellular phone to a very annoying one and it is turned VERY LOUD.   I will put it right by my head so I can’t possibly sleep through it and if he needs a drink of water I will probably have a heart attack from the sudden noise.   Just to be on the safe side I will still move his pills to a new spot.  

It’s good to be needed.

The last two nights I have been making Valentine’s with two of my grand daughters.     It has been two nights full of giggles, glue, scissors, stickers, and paper and I think they have turned out remarkably well!

Don’t tell a certain someone that this is his … I want it to be a surprise!

I remember so many years ago when I carefully prepared my Valentine’s Box for school and addressed all of my cards to the friends in my class.  My favorite box was one my brother, Bill, helped me make out of a round oatmeal box.     I used to come home from school with my cache of Valentine’s and spread them out on the floor so I could divide them up in various categories and look at them for the rest of the night.     It seems hard to believe that I could be so excited about Valentine’s as I used to get.

The fun part came after dark when we would sneak around and leave Valentine’s on the doorsteps, knock, and run like the wind so we wouldn’t be discovered.    

My favorite part of Valentine’s Day now is being the “sweetheart” of the man I love.    He has never once forgotten me on the day of love … I wonder if the talk my Dad gave him when we were first married has anything to do with it.

Dad told Lynn that if there was one thing in the world he should never forget it would be Valentine’s Day … and he knew this to be true because he forgot it ONCE and “faced the consequences.   Believe me, you don’t want to experience that!”

Year’s ago our anniversaries included a huge vase of beautiful roses and a quiet, romantic dinner.    This year allergies have called a halt to the beautiful roses and heartburn has taken away much of the thrill of eating out.   Usually, there would be two specially picked cards with romantic expressions scribed thoughtfully at the bottom.   Lynn’s card usually included the phrase, "If we can make it (insert the number of years we have been married) we can make it (insert the number of years we will have been married in a year).

For our anniversary this year we got a drink at McDonald’s and a taco at Taco Bell which we ate in the parking lot of Walgreen’s while we waited for a prescription to be filled.    Somehow this year neither of us were able to get cards for the other.    And driving anywhere didn’t appeal to either of us because we’re both hobbling around with achy body parts and didn’t feel like doing anything.

Birthdays have always meant an extra special dinner and present.   If it is your birthday you get to choose where to eat.    Lynn jokingly chose Costco … where there are plenty of taste tables conveniently located up and down the aisles.   As I went past one of them I grabbed a nice, blue flannel shirt.    As Lynn was paying for it at the check out stand I smiled and whispered, "Happy Birthday".

Our real celebration, tonight, involved a trip to Chuckee Cheese with the Nordquist family where we were able to sit on a soft bench at our table, hand out tokens we purchased for $25.00 and watch the pleasure on the faces of the grand kids as they ran from game to game trying to win "tickets" they could later cash in for trinkets worth pennies.   The children did the celebrating and it was enough for us.   

Fortunately we had to stop at Target afterwards to pick up colored hair spray for the grand children to wear to "Weird Hair Day" at school tomorrow and I was able to get Lynn a card.  I left it on his pillow but he probably won’t see it and by morning it will be stuck to his face.   

We agreed we may still celebrate our anniversary with a nice romantic dinner where we actually go inside a building and sit down at a table … and maybe even take in a movie since we are "seniors" and get a nice discount at the theater.  (We actually prefer watching a DVD in the comfort of our own home where we can pause occasionally so we can go to the bathroom.)   Who knows, we may even splurge and share a bucket of popcorn.

Tonight we’ll finally meet up in bed and the air will fill with familiar whispers and moans as we struggle to get our sore bodies comfortable enough to fall asleep.     

My how the celebrations have changed.