tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post5989047668012673239..comments2024-03-28T23:25:07.821+00:00Comments on Jean's Knitting: Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12038517988391228260noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-13619870321418235322011-03-06T23:02:51.199+00:002011-03-06T23:02:51.199+00:00I feel for C. When I was 14 I had major surgery to...I feel for C. When I was 14 I had major surgery to correct my jaw, which meant breaking it in three places, many metal plates in the bone, mouth wired shut to heal and a week in the hospital. I remember that during the week I was in the most pain (and thus on the most painkillers- morphine I believe) I could do nothing and enjoy nothing. Reading was impossible (and I loved to read), watching TV or listening to music was impossible, playing video games- etc-- I just could not entertain myself, and I was miserable. Until a friend brought me a coloring book and a large box of crayons, I was so bored and spaced out and cranky-- but the coloring book. I remember that being a huge blessing. I filled its pages in two days, and my friend and her mother came back with several more and a large pad of art paper. All I did was draw and color (although those are two things I rarely ever do-- an artist I am not.) but it was all I could do... and that's that I was not seriously ill like C- I knew I would recover, but the pain in my jaw and the medications for pain, dulled everything. Besides coloring, the only other thing that helped was the presence of my two cats (once I was home.) I was laid up in my room in pain, and when I got too tired to do anything at all I would just lay with a cat in my arms purring, and that brought great comfort.<br /><br />So I understand- I was anxious and nervous too during that time despite being so doped up. I am sorry for C and I hope she can find something to give her happiness and help spend the time.Angelhttp://knittingangel.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-20727034078907556112011-03-06T20:53:22.178+00:002011-03-06T20:53:22.178+00:00Grief is unpredictable: the one thing we can count...Grief is unpredictable: the one thing we can count on is that progress is made over time, particularly if a person is let to feel their feelings. I think preparing for death is very much a repetitive and progressive letting-go - a gradual drawing-away from the temporal life and the people you are leaving, and a gradual drawing-towards the eternal. Loneliness seems to be par for the course.<br /><br />Poor C.Shanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704810407872873565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-82137482384892478532011-03-06T19:41:42.137+00:002011-03-06T19:41:42.137+00:00Out of all the books you mention I find myself emb...Out of all the books you mention I find myself embarrassed to realize I have only read one- Pride and Prejudice. The others are being added to my reading list. Now to find the time to get to them. I was a voracious reader before the internet entered my life. <br /> <br />Socks have been my fear of flying cure as well. I am almost a calm traveler. Almost.kristieinbchttp://journeynorthof49.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-63081929132908101472011-03-06T18:44:29.291+00:002011-03-06T18:44:29.291+00:00I have been thinking about something you said some...I have been thinking about something you said some weeks ago...about passages and quotations that one holds to in times of crisis or testing, or, in times of joy and happiness. There is firstly the Bible, with the obvious 'Who shall seperate us from the love of Christ?...neither death nor life...nor anything else in all creation' (Romans 8:35ff). And Shakespeare, my favorite in this case being from Hamlet: 'If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will comeāthe readiness is all.' It would be most intersting to hear the choices of others.skeindalousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-11117575769049381822011-03-06T15:05:24.792+00:002011-03-06T15:05:24.792+00:00Of course, one imagines what one might do in one&#...Of course, one imagines what one might do in one's present state of mind, but even the means of pain relief might remove the ability to focus, even if one had been spared the various forms of dementia. <br />I have found Alan Bennett's collections a great comfort in times of trouble, but then I was not the one afflicted.shandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17372329387935318023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466385.post-91304567064290762692011-03-06T14:21:21.345+00:002011-03-06T14:21:21.345+00:00My reading of literature has slowed while I have a...My reading of literature has slowed while I have a young child, but I certainly hope to pick up many classics when I have time. Your musings remind me that The Leopard has been recommended many times, and a copy sits unread on my shelf. If it is the one book you would reread in your last days, I will make sure to get it down soon. Thank you for the reminder.rosesmamanoreply@blogger.com