Cancer.
It's a terrible disease. And it affects millions. This week, my wife had her second breast cancer surgery in less than a month. She is getting stronger each day, but it's still hard to watch. I've been reading my Breast Cancer Husband book. It is a wealth of information. Each day I hear of more people who have gone through this. Evidently, there was a family history of breast cancer in Rose's family. Just this week we were reminded of Rose's uncle who died in recent years of breast cancer. This morning at church, I spoke with a long-time friend, whose husband had breast cancer. I knew that he had a bout with cancer a few years back, but could not have remembered that it was breast cancer, had I not been reminded. The prognosis for a cancer-free life is generally good when detected early. We'll learn this week about the proper staging, and probably meet with an oncologist the following week. Many people around the world have expressed love for us. We are thankful. Hundreds of people are praying for her. We feel the support. Since returning from the hospital, we have had meals brought in. Our freezer has several meals that we'll get to later. We trust in God, but it's still hard. I had a moment yesterday, shortly before a meal was brought to us, where the tears flowed. Keep us in your prayers. We'll get through this.
Mexico.
Since my last post, we drove our car nearly 4,000 miles, down to Brownsville, TX, and spent time at South Padre Island with our son and his family. From there we entered Mexico, and went across toward the Pacific coast to see Hidalgo del Parral, where our daughter Kim is teaching in a Christian school. She took some time off from her teaching there, and returned home with us, to be present for her mother's second surgery. We are thankful that she could do that. It was difficult for her to wait for news about her mother after the first surgery. Since the second surgery was postponed, she did not have much time afterward to help take care of her mother, before returning to Mexico. Rose got home from the hospital Thursday evening about 8:15 PM. Kim came home a bit earlier, to finish laundering some things and to finish packing for her trip back to Mexico. Our good friends, Ralph and Cindy Shead, picked her up at 4:45 AM for the trip to the Tulsa airport, and on to Mexico (thank you so much!!!). It was difficult for Kim to leave so soon, but she will do well there. We saw her in action on Monday, September 22. She is involved with a great team (3 other U.S. teachers--all graduates of John Brown University). Though she would like to be here, she needs to be there. Pray for her, that she will entrust her mother's care to a klutz like me (for household stuff), and that she will know that she will be all right.
We had quite a few tears (of the three kids, she is the most emotional, I think) Thursday night late. Since the first night at home, Rose didn't sleep all through the night, we were both up to see Kim off for Tulsa/Mexico. There were a few more tears at that time. Both of us went back to bed. Kim called me from the Tulsa airport (and woke me up!) to tell me that she was at her gate, that Ralph had bought her breakfast and had stayed to make certain that she got checked in and through security, and that she was feeling much better. She was no longer crying. What I found out later was that shortly after I talked to her in Tulsa, her older sister, Charissa, talked to her. Rather than talking to her like a man (which she should have done--right! like that's going to happen!), she must have asked her how she was doing (you know, like a woman!), and the floodgates started again. Later that morning, Charissa told me how hard it was on Kim, to which (as a man, I'll have you know) I responded, "She's doing very well. I just talked to her a little after 7 AM." Charissa informed me that she had talked to her a little after I did, and that she had successfully gotten her all worked up (not her exact words, but if you are a man, you might understand my sentiments).
She enjoyed the Passion Conference in Mexico City, which ended last night. She then endured a long bus trip north to Chihuahua (20 hours long). We talked to her just a few minutes ago. She was at home in her apartment, but will resume teaching in the morning. There were 50 people from the church in Parral that attended the Passion conference, so she has already gotten somewhat acclimated to Mexico.
Baseball.
No longer can Cubs fans say, "It's just one bad century." By failing in the playoffs again, the Cubs are doomed to at least one century plus before repeating with a World Series title. Of all the years that I have been watching the Cubs, this was the best team. I'm not sure what happened in the playoffs, but all of a sudden what was arguably the best team in the National League started playing baseball like they were afraid. They were the same players, but they were not playing like they played the regular season. Joe Torre got the Los Angeles Dodgers to play great baseball. They swept the Cubs in 3 games, and were definitely were the best team in that series.
One of the most painful things about the series, however, was listening to the TBS team of broadcasters, Dick Stockton, Ron Darling and Tony Gwynn. Darling was not a bad pitcher in his day, and Gwynn was a great hitter, but in the broadcast booth, they were terrible. The Wikipedia article about Stockton has been edited in the past 24 hours. I checked it early this morning, wondering just how old he was, since he was sooooooo bad. It had a reference to the fact that his performance in the broadcast booth had suffered in recent years, specifically citing many errors he made in the Cubs-Dodgers series. Darling was also bad. When the Dodgers had runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, Darling stated how Cubs pitcher Rich Harden really needed a double-play ball. I wondered if the Cubs pulled off a double play if the Dodgers would only get 2 outs in the next inning. They were just bad.
It is of little solace that the best team in the American League this season, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (that really is the name of the team), are in danger of being swept by the Boston Red Sox. As I write these lines, the game is currently in the 11th inning, and the Angels are threatening to score.
I have taken the Cubs off of the home page on my cell phone, and the song "Go, Cubs, Go!" is no longer my ring tone. Effectively, the baseball season has ended.
US Fiscal Crisis in an Election Year.
The financial crisis in the U.S. appears to be real, but as a taxpaying citizen, I am angered that the government is so free with my money. One party promises to be in favor of social programs designed to help lower-income people. The other party generally is perceived to advocate a smaller government. The mud slinging has been coming and going. We've got less than a month until the election. My wife is tired of it all. Her idea goes well with Rodney King's: "Why can't we all get along?"
Since this is my personal blog, I have the freedom to write what I want to write. I speak for no one but for myself. I have written previously about Barack Obama's opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. That issue alone tends to send me toward his opponent. The naming of Sarah Palin as his running mate, a person who has walked the pro-life walk, as well as talking the talk encourages me. I was glad that he passed over other potential VP candidates, who may be more open to abortion (like Joe Lieberman). I like Palin, who has weathered the attacks fairly well. She is the most anti-Washington candidate on the tickets (which is a point in her favor). The comment that Jesus Christ was a community organizer while Pontius Pilate was a governor originated from a partisan spirit. Jesus did indeed organize a community of faith, but His job was quite different from that of the current media Messiah, Barack Obama.
My concern on this matter is precisely the work that Obama did as a community organizer, and the tie that it may have to the present economic crisis facing our country. Allegedly, part of Obama's work as a community organizer involved suing banks who did not offer mortgages to lower-income individuals who normally would not qualify. Much has been written about it. Here are some terms that have to do with it:
- Community Reinvestment Act
- Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
- Housing Enterprise Regulatory Act of 2005
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