* INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY *

Just happened upon this and it's definitely something I believe!

 

* ♪ I'M WORKING MY WAY BACK...♪ *

Well, I've begun my way back. Back to my "normal" self. (Hey, I hear those snickers out there. I know I'm not "normal," nor would I ever want to be! Ha!)

Eeeeek!!

People tell me I've been through a lot the past couple of months. I really hadn't looked at it that way, especially because of the sorrow and sickness some of my friends have been experiencing lately. But, however, all the worry and tension and grief that I thought I was "handling," hit me when I let my guard down, and it finally took a bit of a toll...

And now...I'm working my way back...to myself. And it feels really good to smile and laugh and be goofy again J

~~~

* MY DEAR FRIEND, CATHY C. HALL... *

As I skimmed through Facebook this evening, I was shocked and saddened to read that my dear writer/friend Cathy C. Hall's husband just passed away. I am still in shock because I had no idea he was ill.

 

Cathy always referred to her husband, in both speech and writing, as "the beneficent Mr. Hall." I asked her a long time ago why she did that and she replied because he was such a compassionate and big-hearted guy....

 

In July of 2011, I had the pleasure of visiting with Cathy C. when I traveled to the Atlanta, Georgia area to visit family. Her lovely husband was kind enough to drive her quite a few miles to meet with me one afternoon. Cathy and I talked and laughed like we'd known each other "in person" for years and years. Although it was much too short of a visit, it will always be a favorite memory of mine.

 

 

I'm so glad I was able to meet "Joe-the-beneficent-Mr.-Hall."

He took this and a couple other photos of Cathy C. and me that day

 acting like our usual, normal selves!

(Oh, and she also brought along Cathy-on-a-Stick!)

 

 

I've included Joe Hall's obituary below:

 



Obituary for Joe Kenneth Hall

Joe Kenneth Hall, 63, died Sunday, June 19th after a brief illness. Joe is survived by his wife, Cathy, his brother, James W. Hall (Capricia Hall) of Cumming, and his three children, James Joseph (Joey) and Lane Elizabeth (Laney) of Atlanta and John Crider Hall of Sandy Springs.

Joe was born in Sandersville, Georgia and graduated from Washington County High School, before he received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at University of Georgia.

He had a life-long passion for music, and he pursued that passion through a ten-year career in radio as DJ, Dave “King Kong” Kelly. While working at WNEX in Macon, Georgia, Joe met his wife of thirty-six years, Cathy.
Joe left radio to work for TV Guide and moved to Lilburn, Georgia. He spent the next twenty-five years in magazine distribution, retiring recently as Director of Distribution and Marketing at CoMag with Hearst Magazines. He was kind and humorous and always put the well-being of his family before his own. He was an exceptional father, brother and husband who will be greatly missed.

There will be a Memorial Service to Honor and Celebrate the Life of Joe K. Hall at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Lilburn, GA, on Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 11:00 AM. Fr. Sunny Punnakuziyil will serve as celebrant of the service. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Tom M. Wages Snellville Chapel, Snellville, GA. In lieu of flowers, please remember Joe with a contribution to your favorite charity or St. Vincent de Paul

Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.wagesfuneralhome.com. Tom M. Wages Funeral Service, LLC, “A Family Company, Snellville Chapel 770-979-3200 has been entrusted with the arrangements.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -- Anais Nin

* I GOT NOTHIN' *

The past few days I've been thinking I really should post something new here, but as I sit with my fingers poised over my keypad, I realize...."I got nothin'."

I'm not bursting with information I want to share.

 

There hasn't been anything exciting going on.

 

Life is okay....

* CAN I REST A BIT NOW? *

I brought Ron home a couple of hours ago. He'd been in the hospital since the morning of June 1st. I'm so happy to have the love of my life back home with me.

 



Ron and Becky February 1983

 

 

(Yes, he had pneumonia.)

* I'M HANGING IN THERE, AND STAYING STRONG *

Can you believe it is already June 2016?

 

I don't know why, but it seems to be part of human nature that as every month and year goes by, we all say, "I can't believe it is.....fill in the blank...already!"

 

Although I really do enjoy all the little things in life (Mr. Robert Brault!) and savor as much of each day that I can, life just gets in the way sometimes of our "plans." It's kind of like watching or listening to the weather forecast for the upcoming week. Don't bother making your outdoor plans according to those predictions. They usually change.....

 

Case in point: About six weeks ago, neither Ron nor I could have predicted what our lives would be like during these first few days in June. About a month ago, Ron had part of his right lung removed due to a cancerous "nodule." The surgery was successful and there was no chemo or radiation involved. Thank goodness! But during his recovery at home, he wasn't getting much better, and had trouble breathing. But when he went for his follow-up appointments to his lung surgeon and lung doctor (yes, two separate ones) both said things like: It takes time. You're doing all the things you're supposed to, etc.

 

Then, over the weekend of May 14th and 15th, Vern rapidly got sicker and our vet said without a doubt we were making the right decision to say goodbye to our sweet, beloved, senior guy. As most of you know, we'd had Vern just over five years and he would've been 15 years old this August. Although Vern was our third dog, Ron bonded with him much more than he ever did with the first two, and it really hit him hard. For me...I'm grieving about the same as I did for our other two, much-loved fur babies. I have my good days and my bad days.

 

So, a couple more weeks went by, and I kept telling Ron I thought he had pneumonia. I've had it enough times in my life to know the sounds and symptoms. It's not "normal" to wheeze and rattle when you breath! But, did that happen when the doctors listened to him with their stethoscopes? Of course not. One of them looked at me a bit patronizingly at that point, because I had voiced my "knowledge" but he wasn't "hearing" it.

 

....................................................... To Be Continued ...................................................

 



* OUR DEAR FRIEND, CLAUDiA...AKA BOOKiE *

This is kind of a long blog post, but please don't glance at it and think you don't have the time to read it.

Many of my readers have certainly come across a dear friend's blog, Claudia's Page: http://claudiapage-bookie.blogspot.com/

Claudia and I "met" through blogging probably in 2010. That was during the height of my blogging life, as it was for many others. We connected easily, having the same passion for writing and reading, tea cups and tea pots, being outside on the deck on beautiful days, plants and flowers... We sent each other snail mail from time to time and also little gifts. Nothing that cost more than a few dollars, but something special we knew the other would enjoy.

Somehow over the years, though, many of us also began writing fewer and fewer posts. I'm certainly guilty of that. For some reason I lost my gusto for it. Maybe finishing my memoir had something to do with it, but I also know the hard times I was going through for quite some time had a lot to do with it, too. I shared some of my troubles with Claudia via emails and she was always so supportive and encouraging.

(Some left blogging for the ease of quick interactions on Facebook...something I still do not care for, but feel compelled to do from time to time. I haven't let it take over my life, though, by any stretch of the imagination.)

I was thrilled in 2010 when she and I both had stories accepted in an anthology, Patchwork Path: Treasure Box. Here's the link to one of my blog posts concerning that: http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/12/anthologies-friends-book-store-food.html

Claudia on left. Becky on right.

Claudia and I met in person, quite by accident, during Christmas time in 2014. I was working at Thistle & Clover on Main Street in old St. Charles, Mo. (one of Claudia's favorite areas!) When I got off work that evening, Ron met me for dinner at a great restaurant just down the road. We ate and talked and during our dinner, I saw a woman walk by who I thought looked a bit familiar, but I wasn't sure from where. I hardly remember names, but I almost never forget a face. Maybe she was a store customer, maybe I knew her from writers' meetings, etc. So, when she walked back toward our table, we looked at each other and she said to me, "Is your name Becky?" And I stood up and immediately said, "Claudia! Yes, it's me!" We hugged and talked and Ron sat there looking at us like we were nuts. We recognized each other just from various photos we'd seen of each other...She knew I lived in the general vicinity, but she and her DH (dear husband) had driven from near Joplin, Missouri to be there....which is quite a LONG way. Unfortunately they had to leave to visit some other people, so we only talked for a couple of minutes. Ron took a couple of pictures of us...and can you believe this is the best of the two?? Even though the coloring and focus is bad...Claudia looked so cute, and I looked....well, just awful. LOL

So, why am I writing about Claudia today? I'm writing a post about Claudia today because of her blog post of May 27th that I just came across yesterday. What she wrote hasn't left my mind for one second in these almost 24 hours. Claudia has cancer. And it doesn't sound good. I am stunned. I am in shock. This can't be happening to such a sweet woman.

Here is a portion of her post: "...this week, my world crashed. I got very sick and had to go to the hospital. I am home again but not for long. I have cancer, one of the worst with no hope. Now my time must be spent tending to wrapping up a life. If you are a writer, you know that means among other things hundreds of folders for research, new ideas, and manuscripts! I never knew this office was SO full of paper!"

Whether you know Claudia or not, please visit her blog and read some of her beautiful posts and see the lovely photographs she took during road trips she and DH went on. Leave a comment, or send an email to the address she gave. And maybe become her new follower...I would love to see her finally hit the 100 mark!

If you believe in prayer...please say a ton of them for her. If not, please send well wishes, think healing thoughts, or anything else you would like to do.



"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis


"A good friend is a connection to life...a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." -- Lois Wyse

* SAYING GOODBYE TO VERN *

It is with great sorrow that I write about losing our beloved dog, Vern today. He'd been having some major health problems off and on, and we had to say our goodbyes to him this morning. I can't write anything else right now, or post more photos, but please just type in Vern in the upper left search area. See the Blogger symbol and the looking glass? Type Vern and you will see many blog posts and photos.

Vern and Becky 2013