Life Changes Quickly

Last Thursday, a dear friend of mine who is only 45 years old suffered a rupture of an artery in his head - an aneurism. Usually this is fatal. For some reason, his was not. He woke up Thursday morning dizzy and unable to stand. From there it got worse, until his wife took him to the Emergency Room Thursday night. There, another friend who is an ER doctor, told him he had had a stroke and air-evaced him to Barrow's Neurological Center in Phoenix. That airlift saved his life. It turns out that a large part of his cerebellum was damaged beyond repair. Saturday night he had surgery to remove the destroyed brain tissue and reduce the swelling. Jan and I went to visit him Sunday and his doctors told us that they expect a full recovery. We are thankful to God for preserving his life through wonderful medical knowledge.

It turns out the cause of this stroke was very simple - Wednesday night he had popped his neck as he often does. You know (are you reading this, Andrea and Cynthia?), he cracked it to relieve the tension in his neck. This caused the artery to rupture. The doctors told us that in the last two months they have had FOUR young people there with strokes who had just had their necks adjusted by chiropractors. The doctors said, "If you have neck tension, take an Advil - don't pop your neck!"

Anyway, here is a young man who had all sorts of other plans for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and the next month. Instead of accomplishing those plans, he will be resting in bed - all because of a very simple thing that he has probably done thousands of times. He could have died - in almost any prior time he would have died - just from popping his neck.

It made me think about my life. I have thought many times since Friday about how anything I do could be the last thing I ever do on this earth. Not that I am paranoid: I just want to make sure that I don't do things that I know are wrong. I set a life goal many years ago not to die doing something stupid like bridge diving. I also don't want to die having just committed some sin.

This experience has not made me fearful. I am not walking around thinking, "Am I going to die right now? Right now? Right NOW?" It has, however, made me think about all the time I waste. What if I were do die playing Solitaire? Stupid!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for preserving my friend's life.

Things I Do Not Care About

I don't know why I write on this blog, when no one reads or comments, but for the record, here is a list of things I could not care less about. I haven't written anything curmudgeonly for a long time, so don't complain.

1. Anything that involves "celebrities." This includes everyone who is famous for being famous, or who is famous because his/her parents are famous, or anyone who is famous for hanging around celebrities. So anything "newsy" about Paris Hilton, Lisa Marie Presley, Nicole Ritchie, or Cato what's-his-name just gets a big yawn from me.

2. Anything that has to do with movie or TV "stars" - what they are wearing, what cause of the day they are endorsing, what they eat, etc. Brangelina? Ho hum. Jennifer Aniston? Sarah Jessica Parker? The stars of CSI or Friends or The Office or any other TV show? Dull, dull, dull! And this goes TWICE for TV shows dedicated to the activities of celebrities and stars, like Entertainment Tonight or the dozens of knockoffs. Who cares?

3. Anything said by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, or B. Hussein Obama (or almost any other politician). As soon as they start telling us the truth about ANYTHING, I will consider listening. It was politically correct for a few days after B. Hussein Obama's annointing/coronation to say that we all hoped he would succeed. Now that America is beginning to see what the most inept President ever wants to do to us, I can openly say that I hope he fails miserably - I hope he is the greatest failure as a President in American history. When I get any sense that they care about me and my family, whether we succeed, I will start caring about whether they succeed.

4. I don't care about the opinions of Europeans about America - what we should do, how we should act, how our government should be structured, etc.

5. I don't care about people who rip off "the system" to get famous, like "Octomom."

6. I don't care about rock stars or professional athletes. I don't care who used steroids. People always say, "Well, Babe Ruth hit his homers without performance-enhancing drugs." But I have no doubt that he would have, had they been available. His "performance enhancer" of choice was alcohol.

7. I don't care who wins Academy Awards, or People's Choice Awards, or the Screen Actors Guild Awards, or Golden Globe Awards, or Grammys or Emmys or any of the other self-congratulatory awards that celebrities give themselves to enhance their fame and to make them feel better about the fact that they do NOTHING to improve the world. They make their comfortable living by pretending to be people who actually DID something with their lives, and this empty fact eats away at them. That is why actors get so vocal about things they know nothing about. It is an attempt to do something meaningful.

8. I don't care if companies that were mismanaged or have become obsolete fail. This goes for America's auto manufacturers. If they went under, and if every union official in America suddenly lost his job, I would not care.

9. I don't care about any TV show that uses "Reality TV" as a format. Ugh! Those shows are about as real as a $3 bill.

So there you go. This is my short list. Don't ask me questions about A-Rod or Bono or Brad Pitt or the rest of them. Don't ask me what movies or actors won Oscars. Don't ask me about Survivor Island or whatever it is called. Don't ask me. I don't know, and I could not care less.

The Ultimate Food!

There seems to be some argument as to whether or not man can live by bread alone. But I’ll bet you’ve never heard that accusation leveled against strawberry rhubarb pie. There’s a reason for this.

Think about it. You’ve got fruit – the fresh, luscious strawberries. Then there’s rhubarb, a fibrous vegetable, almost inedible raw. Your dairy group is well represented in the crust (if made correctly), in the form of copious quantities of butter. Plus you have, of course, wheat. Wheat is good for you.

So you have fruit, veggies, dairy, grains and fiber all brought together, miraculously, into the most sublime taste experience imaginable. If it hasn’t been done yet, I would like to officially nominate strawberry rhubarb pie for the title of The Ultimate Food.

I remember well where I was sitting the first time I tasted strawberry rhubarb pie. I was at the home of my friend, Jim Pribbeno, on Gilbert Rd north of McKellips, almost to the river bottom. His Mom offered me a piece of this pie I had never heard of. I have always been willing to try new foods (within reason), so even though I had no expectations, I accepted. Oh My! It was pure heaven.

Years passed before I had another experience with the ultimate food. This time Jan and I were at Pres and Bobbie's house in Fredonia. I forget what the occasion was. Anyway, Bobbie had made strawberry rhubarb pie. Jan had heard me talk of it, and didn't think it would taste good, but I encouraged her to try it. It was truly love at first bite. Knowing that I was married to what would become the world's best pie maker, I got Jan to ask Bobbie for the recipe. That was one of the smartest things I ever did in my life.

Over the years, Jan has made a lot of wonderful pies of all sorts. But she knows that my favorite now and forever is strawberry rhubarb - that king of foods, The Ultimate Food. I know at least one son-in-law who would agree.

Another wonderful treat is to save the sauce that is formed from cooking the strawberries and rhubarb and sugar together, and serving it over vanilla ice cream. If the pie doesn't finish you off, this will. Indescribably delicious!

(Now I have to see if I can talk her into making me one. Writing this has made me very hungry for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!)

Happy Valentine's Day, My Love!

Well, it is Valentine's Day again. This is our 36th Valentine's Day together. Our first one was in 1973. We had been dating for seven months and engaged for just three weeks. We were looking forward to a lifetime together with great anticipation. I took you to a Valentine's Day dance at the MCC Institute; we left early, then we sat and talked (wink, wink) in the car for hours. You gave me that card with the two naked people embracing on the front, and I knew I was marrying the right gal. I tried to find that card to scan for this posting, but it has mysteriously vanished after all these years. Or maybe I just can't find stuff. Someone must have thrown it away! It's Gone.

Anyway, what I thought was love at the time we married was just a little drip in the vast sea of emotion. The last 36 years have taught me what real love is. Love is patience, patience and more patience. Love is forgiveness over and over and over and over again while you wait for me to grow up. Love is going through experiences that neither of us would have wished for, and holding onto each other for dear life. Love is the glue that holds us together when everything else seems to be falling apart. And our love will see us through the trials that lie ahead, and there will be many. Yes, my love was just a little drip in 1973, but now my love for you envelopes me and warms me and comforts me and sees me through every moment of my life. You are the heart of my heart, the center of my soul, my eternal Sweetheart. I hope and pray that I can make you happy every day of what remains of our life together.

Happy Valentine's Day, Jan!

P.S. Jan insists to this day that she didn't notice the couple on the card were naked. Yeah, what ev!

The Repentance Chair

Today in church one of the speakers talked about something she and her husband have in their home. It is called the "Repentance Chair." It is a chair, big enough for one child. Whenever her kids get into a quarrel or a fight (I know, this never happens in YOUR home), both children are placed in the chair and told that they must remain there until each can tell their Mother what he/she could have done differently to have made the situation/altercation different. There is no "he started it" kinds of statement allowed - each must recognize his or her role in the fight, and identify what he/she did wrong in escalating it. I thought that was a great idea. No blaming. No fault finding, except within yourself.

So often we are prone to see what the other person did wrong. No feeling in humanity is more common than the feeling that if someone else would change, everything would be fine. The Repentance Chair helps children see that they have a major role in any fight they are in. Great idea.

You Know Not to Do That, Right?

Dad told me it was past my turn to write something on the blog. I told him I didn't set it up and that it was HIS thing and besides he likes to write and I don't. However, because I'm trying to improve in sportsmanship, I will be a good sport now and give you something new to read. Here it goes.

I got a belated Christmas card last week from a long time dear friend of mine who is going through a divorce after more than 20 years of what seemed to be a great, adventure filled, temple marriage. I called my friend the next day and listened to her for two hours. She said that things had not been good between her and her husband since he started making tons of money(millions)in land investments about 6 years ago. He became friends with some big wigs in Phoenix and was pulled into their way of living. First he had one drink of alcohol just to get along with them. Then he had the occasional drink with his friends. My friend didn't know this was going on. They bought a big beautiful house in Queen Creek and a condo in Hawaii. They went on several vacations a year. My friend always had great things to write about in her yearly Christmas letter. I'm ashamed to admit I felt a little envious of their lifestyle.

Anyway, about four years ago, my friend said her husband started coming home from business meetings drunk. She begged him to stop. He would apologize when he was sober and beg her forgiveness(he would never do that again). She is one of the sweetest, least judgemental persons I know and of course she believed and forgave him. Little did she know that he had already started using meth and having affairs with other women. Over the next few years he started abusing my friend. Of course he always cried and begged for her to forgive him when he was sober. She tried to help him but he gradually turned into a mean, abusive person. She stayed with him because they have a twelve year old son that adored his father.

My friend prayed for help constantly and attended the Temple to try to get answers to what she should do. Then one night last May,her husband put a loaded gun to her head and raped her. He told her if she went to the police he would kill her and their son. Now she knew she had to get out. After her husband fell asleep,she took her son to a friend's house and she went to her bishop. He took her to the police. They arrested her husband the next day. Apparently, he had been under suspicion for business fraud along with another guy he worked with. The police were quick to bring him in. He has been in jail since and is awaiting trial on fraud charges. The other charges cannot be proved (his word against hers) so they have been dropped. My friend has lost everything material but she said she feels more at peace now than she has for several years and her son is happier too. She will start teaching at Franklin Academy in Queen Creek next Fall.

The point to me telling you this story is just a warning to never, never compromise your standards. It will start you on a path to destruction. Also, appreciate the life you have, love each other and love the Lord. I am so grateful to have a husband who lives righteously and who loves and cares for his family.

Happy New Year!

Today was too lovely to be believed. At 11:00, it was 60 degrees outside! I was outside in a T-shirt with my iron bar and shovel, trying to break up the ice from our driveway so we won't slip and slide every time we go to the car. Around 1:30, Melissa and Brad and the kids, along with Jay and Lecia and their kids arrived to play in the snow. The kids wasted no time in running into the front yard to play. Tomorrow they are going up the the old Sunrise along Hwy 260 to sled and play all day. They planned to stay at Hiatt's house up here, and after hours of shoveling and packing, they succeeded in getting into the driveway. We'll see if they can get out tomorrow!

Happy New Year to any readers. This year will either be much better than last year, or the end of civilization as we know it. Either way, it should be quite an adventure.

I have been reading "The 5,000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen. I recommend it to everyone. It will really open your eyes to the meaning of the Constitution and it will show you just how far we have come from what the Founders intended. I am also reading "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. It is really worth reading, too.

Keeping the Town afloat financally is getting to be a lot like banging my thumbs over and over and over again with a hammer. People have gotten so used to buying whatever they want or "need" whenever they want or "need" it, they can't seem to understand what "we are out of money" means. I might just as well be rubbing a cheese grater against my forehead. But I am grateful to have a job, I truly am.

We will be breaking ground this month for the foundations of our home addition. That garage would really have come in handy already this winter, with all the snow we have had. Global warming, indeed! Our high last Saturday was 22 degrees. Balmy!

That's enough random posting for one night.