photo by Kathy Goedeken

My husband fell asleep early tonight and I snuggled up next to him to watch P.S. I love you (the Hilary Swank movie about a young widow coping with her husband’s death). Needless to say I found myself crying through a good third of the movie, but I did like it. The best part though was finishing the movie and having my groggy, sleep warmed husband roll over and wrap his arms around me. I am so lucky to have him. I remind myself of that every day. Life is too short and nothing is more important than love, especially loving and appreciating the people in your life. Nothing is better than being able to hug someone you love or just being able to spend time with them. Love is the most beautiful, terrifying, courageous experience a person can have.

My deepest fear is losing my husband. The thought of such a wonderful person being gone from my life gives me nightmares yet I know that someday, one of us will be left behind. I just hope that we have many many years together before that happens and deep in my heart I know that love really never ends. Death will someday separate us for a time but love is eternal. Each day I try to remind myself to be grateful for the small things: a hug, a smile, a word, the touch of a hand. I don’t think there’s anything in life more important than these fleeting moments.

“I don’t have enough words, but I want to wish to all of you: Try to find happiness in every day. At least once, smile to each other every day. And say just one extra time that you love the person who lives with you. Just say ‘I love you’. It’s so Great. So important.” Katia Gordeeva’s speech at Celebration of a Life, a tribute to her late husband/partner Sergei Grinkov who died suddenlyof a heart attack at the age of 28 while practicing for an ice skating show.

I survived my gall bladder surgery!

First off I wanted to thank everyone who left messages for me last week when I was soooo nervous about going through my very first surgery (especial thanks to Lynne Malan, Squilla & Graciel for their extreme thoughfulness! ). I read the messages from everyone the morning before going into the hospital and they really calmed me & lifted my spirits. I’ve found such a wonderful community here online and all of you mean so much to me :hug:

I couldn’t have asked for things to go more smoothly with the surgery and recovery has gone well too. Although I’m still sore and find it hard to do any bending or stretching, generally I’m doing really well and I’m back to most of my regular activities, though I have to do them a bit more slowly than I usually do. My husband is doing all the ‘heavy’ lifting since I can’t lift more than about 10 pounds. I have to admit that I don’t really mind giving up lugging the laundry baskets up and down our stairs . My husband has been really wonderful through all of this and I really appreciate everything he’s done to make this easier on me. Over all I’m really happy to have the surgery done and behind me. I was having such horrible pain attacks every few days because of the gallstones (turns out one was actually wedged in my bile duct) and it’s a relief not to have to live in fear of them any more. It’s also nice to know that my body handles anesthesia alright and went through surgery really well. Next time something like this comes up I won’t have to worry so much. I guess I’m tougher than I thought I was. Thanks to everyone for listening to my fears and calming me down. You were all really supportive and wonderful!!

So, I’m back and will soon be visiting everyone’s journals. I can’t wait to see what everyone’s been up to this past week.