Hello on Friday Morning

Dear Friends,

Thursday went almost as planned with a few bumps along the way. I was pretty
successful about leaving Linda alone so that she could function at her own pace.

My day started off with an hour walk around the nearby track. So far, going in
circles hasn't driven me crazy!

After a quick shower, I headed off to Walmart for an oil change, and then to
the nursing home to visit Mom.

Speaking of dear old mom, she was doing okay when I was there. I stayed through
her lunch, and I filled her in about what Linda and I have been doing during the
past week or so. She didn't shed any tears while I was there, but she did talk
about wanting the good Lord to take her from this earth.
When I left the nursing , Mom wanted to go from the wheel chair to her bed
because she said that she wasn't feeling that great.

I then headed to Lee, and I just caught dad before he was going to head off to
the nursing home. I told him to skip the lunch time visit because Mom was going
back to bed to get a little rest.

I returned home just in time to say "Bye" to Linda as she headed off to do
errands. Her major errand was to go to Walmart and create some albums of baby
pictures. Mission not accomplished! Linda had worked on cropping, eliminating
red eye, etc. for over an hour, and the system crashed just before she could
print the pictures. She was devastated! She talked the manager into giving her
the pictures at a reduced rate when she goes back today.

Social Calendar -- Linda is so happy that I will be out of the house this
morning too. Golf starts at 7:30 AM because there is a golf tournament later on
in the day. I haven't swung a club in a while so I hope that I have good
partners today.
I will most likely take a nap after golf because we are heading off to the ITAM
for a 6 PM Italian Delight Dinner at the ITAM Lodge. The menu is awesome. The
price is $20 per person. Anyone receiving this e-mail is welcome to join us.
Most of the usual suspects are not available so I couldn't reserve a table, but
there should be plenty of room at the event. My physical therapist, Mario
DeMartino, is in charge of this Lodge fundraiser event.

Sports -- The Red Sox lost their game while the Yankees won their game. I think
the the Red Sox should spend the rest of the season trying to secure a Wildcard
slot because it doesn't look like they will be able to catch the Yankees. Oh
Darn!

Politics -- My Health Care comments stirred up a little discussion yesterday
which is good.

Politics continued -- As I was watching the news yesterday, I also saw that
there are good number of people in our country in various states who are
dressing up in fatigues, and carrying big guns, and secretly training in the
woods, and waiting to take back the government from the politicians. These
groups of people feel that the Constitution is being violated. They don't like
the idea of a black President. They scare me just as much as the Taliban. I hope
that our government is keeping a watchful eye on these people. We seem to be
growing our own terrorists!

Observation -- As I see my mother in a nursing home, and as I was witnessing
the joy of birth of our grandchild in East Boston, it all comes back to my
"Cycle of Life" belief. We live, and we die, and we hope that our family
heritage continues to live on. There is sadness on one end of this cycle, and
joy on the other side. The birth of a child helps to take away pain on losing a
loved one, and our focus becomes life.
A high school classmate of mine from Lee lost his wife to cancer the other day.
When I read the daily obituaries, and I see the person was in my age group, it
is a wake up call, and reminder to give our loved ones a hug, and not to sweat
the little stuff.

Have a great weekend.
The weather forecast in the Berkshires is a good one for a change.
I hope that it is a good one for you where you live.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad