Journey Out of Pink

We've just returned from a week away and boy do we feel good! Every year we try to visit our favorite beaches. Being able to unwind from all the world's stressors is good for the body, mind, and soul. By the time we arrive each year, we realize it's the best medicine we could ever get.  We've been going to these same areas for over 31 years. During that time, others have discovered the "Forgotten Coast" and it's grown immensely. It's sad to us to see so many new houses, hotels, and other developments because they destroy the wilderness areas we've enjoyed for so long, but I guess that's the price of loose lips. If people had kept the areas secret, the long time residents and visitors would have been able to have kept the pristine beaches quiet.  We used to spend our summers in Destin years ago but when it became so busy, we moved to a quieter beach in Port St. Joe, Florida - Cape San Blas. It became our favorite until after Hurricane Michael. W...

I'm so blessed! I was thinking about it today and realized, I have a husband who's just like my Daddy. I never dreamed I'd get one, you see, the first two husbands were completely the opposite. I guess that's why those marriages didn't work out, among other reasons. If I'd known what to look for in a mate to begin with, I'd probably have picked a good one, but I was young and hadn't a clue. Thankfully, after a couple of bad apples, I've got the solid gold one.  My Daddy was a hard worker. Most of my childhood he worked two jobs. And they weren't easy jobs, they were very physically demanding jobs. He'd be so exhausted when he came home from work that he'd collapse in his favorite chair and sit there trying to unwind before time to go to bed and do it all again the next day.  He never was concerned with material possessions for himself but wanted to provide whatever his family needed. That meant he often went with holes in his shoes or soc...

Last night, I was taken to the ER with possible AFib. I didn't want to go in an ambulance because they cost so much but knew if we drove ourselves, we'd sit in the waiting room more than 6 hours before being seen. (Been there done that!) So I let them take me.  Without going into all the details of ineptitude I experienced from hospital staff, I'll just say it was a very bad experience. I was at the ER until almost 2 AM (over 8 hours)! It was freezing cold in there and I'm so glad I know how to unhook the machinery to get up and go to the bathroom, otherwise I'd have wet the bed. No one came to check on me regularly and I finally told them, at the 7 hour mark, that they could either discharge me or I was going to leave AMA. When I said that, through the call button to the nurse's station, I was told if I left AMA that Medicare wouldn't cover my ER visit. I checked on that and found it to be untrue so I called back and said if the doc wasn't there in the ...

I used to wonder why the Bible says do not fear over 365 times. Pastors usually mention this in their sermons at some point during their career. Today, as I was experiencing some heart rhythm abnormalities, I started to become very fearful. The more fearful I became, the higher my blood pressure went.  There are a lot of things you can control in your body, but you can't control your heart. Over the past few months, I've been dealing with possible AFib. If you don't know what that means, imagine having your heart beat really slow for a few minutes and then be really really fast and then start the same process over again. The rhythm is completely out of whack. It's extremely scary and can make you feel very light-headed and weak. Now can you see why I get scared?  No matter what I tried to do, fear seems to overtake me. I do my best to remain calm. I'm a believer and I know that God is in control, but I don't want to die a heart attack.  We have a huge history of...

When I was a child, I learned a lot of silly songs. Sometimes those pop into my mind at random times of the day. Today, as I was feeling kind of crappy, this one came to the forefront of my mind, "The Old Gray Mare Just Ain't What She Used to be."I don't even think I knew what a mare was when I was a young child, but the tune was catchy and we loved to repeat it during camp outs as we sat around the campfire when I was in Girl Scouts. I finally figured out that a mare was an older horse, one that wasn't able to pull it's weight anymore, one that'd soon be put out to pasture or shipped off the glue factory. And that's just about what I feel like today.  Almost everything in my body hurts. It's been a tough year for me. I've been through many medical procedures and I can tell my body is flashing red lights of warning. My time is growing short. Aches and pains are part of aging, but they sure do suck! I'd give anything to wake up from a good n...

  On Resurrection Sunday, one of the most holy days for believers, we made plans to attend one of my daughter's churches. It was also going to be a very special day for me because my youngest granddaughter was getting baptized.    As I got ready for church, I was going to wear a dress. Since the weather had turned warmer, there was no need to wear slacks anymore. But there was a problem. My legs were lily white. I hadn't been in the sun much and those limbs would be visible, even if I wore a mid-length skirt as I usually did. Digging in my drawer, I looked for a pair of panty hose. I hadn't wore any in ages. I hated them! No luck. So what was I to do? Tights, yes! I had a pair of black ones.    I took them out and looked at them. They'd only been worn once. They were thin, more like hose than regular tights which were thicker. I knew, with my rough hands, I'd surely snag them when donning them, so I dug in the drawer again. I knew they were in there somewhere......