Good-bye Chief Brice

Yesterday was a tug-at-your heartstrings day at Fire-Rescue where I have worked for nearly 13 years. The Chief, Chief Herman W. Brice, retired after 56 wonderful years in the fire service with 25 years leading Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. Not only was Chief Brice a great leader during his career, but he was a man of great character and was deeply respected throughout the fire service organizations in our nation. What was special about the Chief was his ability to relate to people and make them feel comfortable talking with him. He listened, he cared and he enjoyed the camraderie of not only the firefighters, but the civilian employees as well. Chief had a great sense of humor and was not afraid to have fun at office gatherings and special events. He will be greatly missed, but he deserves his time with his wife and family as they had to share him for a very long time. Goodbye Chief Brice. You simply were the best!

Into Pink

If I am asked what my favorite color is I would automatically say pink. I love the color. It's fresh, girly and fun. And it is very complimentary to my complexion. However, pink became more than a fashion color to me when in the autumn of 2006 my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer was new to our family as no one on either side of our family had ever gotten it. We were more concerned with heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's. When Judy received her diagnosis she was in shock, of course, but had a great attitude and with the love and support of her family she began her treatment. She had a lumpectomy and then began her chemotherapy for several weeks followed by radiation treatment. Those were tough times for her as she tried to maintained her regular routine of working and her other responsibilities to her family while her body was being slowly poisoned with the chemo. She was nauseous constantly and extremely tired and her bones hurt as the shot she was given the day after her chemo treatments felt like the marrow was being pushed out of her bones. Finally, the day arrived when all of her scans came back clear and the doctors felt they had gotten all the cancer. That was the summer of 2007. I had planned a trip out to see her in October. When I arrived in Las Vegas, her hair had grown out enough to be considered a "short do." She looked good and we were so grateful to have some "sister time" together. We went and saw Mamma Mia at the Mandalay Bay and went boating out on Lake Mead. We lunched and shopped and just enjoyed each other's company. Within a short period of time after I had returned home she called me and told me that a follow-up scan had shown a very small dot on her breast again, but the doctors said it was too small to determine exactly what it was and she would have to wait for a couple of months before another scan could be done. Personally, I was very upset that she would have to wait. She just had cancer and another spot shows up and she was told she would have to let precious time go by before they could tell anything. My sister trusted her doctors and therefore I trusted her, but I was very uneasy and worried. When she went back to her doctor in January 2008 and had the second scan, it turned out she had stage 4 cancer and it had spread to her bones and liver. We all were devastated and felt furious that nothing had been done for her and the two months she spent waiting were wasted. She stood by her doctors and defended them at every turn. Judy knew she was facing her biggest battle ever and began another round of treatment. She went on to have two or three additional types of treatment and each time the scan would show the cancer had not been stopped and continued to spread throughout her body. After her last failed treatment, Judy made an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. I remember her calling me after she saw the doctors at Mayo and she was very incoherent. She was so ill and of course was on many pain medications. All I can remember her saying to me is "not good" and silence. Judy returned home to her family and I flew out the same day she arrived back in Las Vegas. Judy died five days later on June 22, 2008. My precious younger sister was gone. I still mourn for her every day and miss her so much. During the time that Judy was battling cancer, I had a very good friend at work who was there for me to listen and sympathize with and knew what I was experiencing. She understood breast cancer all to well as her mother, grandmother and great grandmother had died from the disease. She was such a help to me and I so appreciated her kind words and support. Fast forward to now and my friend, Alicia, has been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, a less common form of breast cancer that is very aggressive. I cried so much when she told me and now my thoughts turn to her. Alicia is such a fun person and good friend and now I stand beside her ready to help her and support her as much as I can. She has a long road ahead of her and I will be there with her every step of the way. I confess that life is not fair and sometimes just plain sucks. But we have to take the bad with the good and I feel so blessed to have had these two women in my life - my sweet younger sister Judy and my fun friend and "older sister (inside joke)" Alicia. The battle of cancer is an ongoing occurrence in the lives of women and men all over the world. The Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon is pink and they couldn't have picked a better color. I wear it proudly and pray each day that a cure will be found soon for this insidious disease.

The Time Factor

I confess I think I have entered into some kind of phenomenon wherein my time is being sucked away in a vacuum, as I turn around and the day is gone in a flash. Alright, I tell myself, tomorrow is another day and I will get more done tomorrow and poof! the same thing happens again. Now I am a working woman who logs in 40 hours a week, but my children are grown and I live in a townhouse with minimal upkeep so I don't have to spend time in those areas. I have more free time at this stage of my life than I've had since my early 20's, yet I don't seem to accomplish as much as I think I should. I have all these things I'd like to try to accomplish - to explore, to visit, to create, to experience, to master - yet, the time factor phenomenon has been my nemesis. Where does it go? We all have the same amount everyday. I've asked myself if I am too much of a dreamer and not enough of a doer. That is probably true to an extent, but I know dreams often precede the deed. So, since I am not getting any younger (and none of us are) and I have much I want to do in the next 30+ years or so, I need to devise a plan to thwart the phenonmenon of the time sucking vacuum. I think I am going to have to start using a daily planner. Ugh! I have never used one in my life before. My husband has always used one, but I never saw the need as I kept everything up in the old noggin' - appointments, to do lists, events, birthdates, anniversaries, etc. Now I still have a good memory, but I think I better start writing down specifics about what I want to get accomplished. I think in seeing my plans written down and setting a time frame to accomplish them then that will help me to remain focused and stay on track. I can't really say that my mind doesn't wander from time to time, but it must be the wandering syndrome that has created the phenonmenon of the vacuum sucking away all my time. Hmmm...

Getting Started

I must confess I am new to the world of blogging and I don't know a lot about social networking on the internet, but I became intrigued when I heard someone talking about his blog and how easy it was to set up and get started. I didn't even know if I would like sitting down and writing about "things" - I mean who would really care? - but nonetheless, I was still intrigued. You see, all my life I have always considered myself more of a good listener and not so much of a talker. Now that's not to say that I don't talk or have something to say because obviously that is not true. I guess my comfort zone has always been relatively small and in one-on-one conversations and small group conversations with my family and close friends I respond differently than when I am with a larger group of people. In this forum, I have an opportunity to spread my wings a lot, get comfortable in sharing my thoughts and focus on what gives me joy in my life. I like taking the high road. I hope this will be fun. Now if I can master the technical aspect of this blog and learn to do some cool things with it, then I will be a happy camper. Baby steps, one step at a time...