double clip on the picture at the bottom

I post this with tears in my eyes. As I told my son, "Not bad for a kid whose Grandma crossed the border in a rowboat and paid a nickle for the ride. And a grandpa who crossed the border on a horse with some of Pancho Villa's men."

I recall my mother telling me I had to finish high school because she didn't want her kids to have to suffer as she did. She told me of having bleeding hands from picking cotton all day in the field and the overseers hitting them if they worked to slow. She told of everyone in the family having to pick so they could afford food. No school for her.

And my dad, riding with the army of Pancho Villa and how the general he, my dad, was riding with crossed the border near Marfe, Texas and then posted funds from the army into his personal account. He left the group and returned to Mexcio and gathered his mom and brought her to the U.S. to start a life for them in this country.

Then there is me, served in the Navy and Army of the United States. Then I used the benefits earned went to school and started my family. And now I have a University grad coming up. I pray he goes on and fills what is his purpose in life. He all ready is an example of what can be done in our commuinty.

I remember

Today I was sitting on the front porch and as I looked at the trees starting to put on their green overcoat I got to thinking.

I remember being able to get a Bruce fried pie and a coke for 15 cents.

I remember soda costing 5 cents each or 6 for 25 cents

I remember my bike, red with chrome fenders and saddle bags.
Pee Wee Herman had nothing on me!

I remember licorice candy in the shape of a baby about an inch long
We called them Tar Babys, a penny each.

I remembe a Pelon. A free bee at the store when you bought stuff. Most of the
it was a piece of fried pork skin. Put you hand in the bag and pick
one out.

I remember the pickel jar, pay your nickle and put your hand in and choose a
pickel.

I remember a giant barrol of lard, bring your own can and the butcher would
fill your can. Or you could buy a prepackage block but that cost more

I remember the butcher would get half a beef uncut and he would cut it anyway
you wished. Cheese in one long block, he would slice it as thick or
thin as you wanted.

I remember mom send us to the store to buy stuff and telling the man "put it on
bill" and he didn't even ask your name. He knew everyone.

I remember kerosine, used for lots of things. We used it to cook, heat and if you
stepped on a nail, it was poured into the wound. I recall one of my
sisters slipped and fell on a gravel patch and after they pulled out
the gravel they cleaned it out with kerosine

I remember going to visit friends without calling first. They would welcome you
in and you could spend an afternoon with them. Phones were not in
in the normal home in those days.

I remember every home had a bottle of idion or mercurachrom and when you cut
yourself it was put on. Now you can't even buy it anymore. We called it
monkey blood. "get the monkey blood, Lee cut himself."

I wonder how we all lived to be old men and ladies. The times were much more laid back, we played in the street, brought comic books for 5 and then 7 cents each. We walked where we had to go and even the 100 degree heat didn't trouble us, it was all we knew.

trip to the center for surgery

So What happen? That is what I asked the nurse at my doctors office this morning.

Yesterday, 3/10/09 I went in to have a bone tumor removed from my right shoulder. After all the lab work, the EKG, and all the questions about my body and myself it was time. The gas passer came and talked to me, more questions and then he gave the ok. The surgeon came in and taked to me too.At last, a real person came in and told me she was going to give me a shot that would relax me and than they would transfer me to the OR where they would move me on the an operating table.

Well, next thing I thought I saw was a bunch of guys with long pipes swinging then at each other. I closed my eye and opened them again and they were gone. Then I looked at my shoulder, expecting to see a big bandage on it but there was nothing. Then someone told me they had been unable to intubeate me and after many tries had decided to do it at a hospital. I was feeling so sleepie and dazed that I just laid there. They hleped me get dress, called my ride and before I knew it, my ride was there.They gave me a list of things I should do and not do. The ones I remember were "don't drive, don't sign any contract, etc for the next 24 hours.

I got home, posted a message I was home and went to bed. In the evening I woke up, still feeling bad but had a message on my phone to call my doctor for an appointment for surgery. It was passed office hours so I put that off. I had big lips and saw where I think I bit byself inside my mouth. I was spitting up blood, not much just tined. I had a sore throat but other wise ok.

Last night I woke up and was hungry so I ate, this morning I called the offiic and she told me that they are going to do the orperation at the hospital where they have stuff to make my throat relax so they can pass the tube. They didn't have the stuff at the surgery center. So I am set for next week, 19 March at the same time. Have to be there at 6:30 AM. I should be operationed on about 10 AM. So here I go again.

Pain may be good and it has a purpose

This morning I was reminded that I have a problem. I went grocery shopping this morning and as I reached for a 12 pack of soda water I used my right arm. It felt as if my arm was going to come out of it socket! Good thing I go early in the morning as the pain sent me to ny knees. There was no one in the row with me else they may have sounded an alarm! Man, I hurt. And to think that just a few mins before I had been thinking that maybe I should pospone surgery, after all, wasn't the pain getting less and less? (didn't think vicodin could have something to do with that). Anyway, I did the rest of my shopping and had them carry it out and place it in the van.

I will say I am not looking forward to having surgery but I have been told that the tumor in the shoulder bone will keep growing and in time it would break the joint. I had decided to have surgery when first told but as time passed I started having second thoughts.

So, pain served as a reminder that one should do what is best as soon as one finds out what that is. Once on the right path, keep going. Hope to post as soon as I can type with both hands.

Tomorrow (02/10/09) is the day of surgery. I have been told they will make a window in my right shoulder and expose the joint. There they will cut into the bone and remove the tumor and send it off to the lab. At this point all the doctors feel it is not cancer but it is growing so they have to remove it before it breaks the joint which is not good for the body. If it were not for pain I would not have known that I had a tumor.

Remember, take care of pain, it is the way our body lets us know something is not right
Remember, take care of Spirital pain, it is the way our Spirit lets us know something is wrong.