My Amazing Life

Late this afternoon, I ventured over to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book that had arrived.  I asked for a copy of Fear, the new book by Carl Woodard as well, and sat down with the books in the cafe.

Since the sun was in my eyes at the table where I was sitting, I moved to the table in front of me, next to a where a man was sitting reading.  Eventually, I asked him what he was reading and  we began to chat about what we were reading.

Fast forward, we ended up chatting for hours.  Neither of us got any more reading done.  He moved to Durham when he was 18 from Florida, got a football scholarship to Central where he played quarterback.  We're the same age.  Only know his first name and what the does for a living.  Looked him up on the net to no avail.  I'd like to invite him to meet for tea in B & N.  Yes, they do have tea (blueberry, my favorite), along with spinach and artichoke quiche, another favorite.

Last night, my small group from church met at Maggie's house, as usual.  The topic was from the Lectionary for Oct. 7, 2018, Job 1:1  and Job 2:  2-10.  The crux of this reading is faith.  And boy, do we need it more than ever!   (http://storypath.upsem.edu/lectionary-links-rcl-october-7-2018/)

It's been a hard week here in the U. S. over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.  Three women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault when he was a student at Georgetown Prep.  The country was riveted by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony
and she was very credible.  She also had character, composure, and patience.  Of course, Trump ridiculed and mocked her.  How cruel and insensitive!

Kavenaugh, on the other hand, came out fighting.  Visibly angry.  Even tearful.  He utterly disgusted me.  He even sparred with one of the Senators on her drinking habits (after admitting he like beer).  Unbelievable!  This was far worse than the Clarence Thomas  hearings.  Those hearings at least had a sense of decorum.  Like Thomas, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the narrowest of margins (50-48), although Thomas' finally tally wasn't that close.

Kavenaugh's final tally was the second closest in history.  The closest was by one by by the candidate nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1881.

As hard as it was, I made a point of watching the final roll call.   Fascinating to watch the votes come in (yes, yes, no, yes, no, no....).  History in the making.

I've put the hearings aside for now and concentrating on what's before me.  I have  full plate.  Writing, job interviews, a trip downtown tomorrow morning to drop off some forms.  Life goes on.  It will get better.

The point is, the moral fiber of the country does not lie in the Supreme Court, but in a Supreme Being.

After small group last night, we went down to The Pit across from Motorco to listen to bluegrass music on the roof.  Rusty came along and he was a huge hit with the kids.  The group was called Grass Street, and they were great.  Banjo, bass, do-bro, guitar, and beautiful voices.

October 14, 2018

I talked with Bea Burnett extensively over the past few days.  So wonderful to re-connect!

Oct. 17, 2018

Trip down to the Duke campus today for mindful meditation.  The more i think about it, the more i'd like to live my life mindfully, from the time i wake up to the time i go to bed...lovely heart meditation today and i thought of little Maude; she was right there in the middle of my heart and i felt a warmth come over me that could only be love.

Oct. 19, 2018

I'd been thinking about my dear, dear friend, Mimi Christianson this week.  On Wednesday, I made a mental note to send her a card and remembered to do that yesterday.   I'd noticed on my Facebook page that one of Mimi's friends had posted a photograph of Jim and Mimi taken the summer of 2017 at the annual 4th of July picnic and they looked so robust and healthy.

Under the post, I noticed that Mimi's daughter in-law, Fawn, had written what a great mother-in-law Mimi was.  Fawn so I friended Fawn and sent a message asking how Mimi was.  I usually don't look at my FB page at night, but I did last night.  Fawn had messaged me back, that Mimi had died several hours before.  Ohhh, the sorrow.  Emailed some friends and Katherine called me back around 11:30 last night...so sweet of her.  Morgan called and offered to bring breakfast over and we had a delightful time reminescing and eating oat cakes and apple butter.

I was doing great until I saw Sharon next door and lost it.  Mentioned how Mimi had died yesterday, and how I hadn't yet mailed her card I'd been meaning to send and Sharon mentioned how when someone close to her had once died, and through her tears and sobs, she saw the loved one's face.  And heard a voice that said, "it's going to be all right...your friend was transitioning and reaching out to you to say that she was fine and telling you that everything would be all right."

Just hung up on the phone with Julie and we had a long chat.  It helped to grieve, to talk, to recall memories, and to remember that what a giving person Mimi was to all who knew her.  Julie said it succinctly:  "Our lives intersected at that point in time, in Sitka, and even though we all went our separate ways, we stayed connected throughout all the years we knew each other."

I feel her spirit with me now, and she's reaching her arms out to Julie also.  We're all family.  Our lives came together at that picnic on the island 35 years ago.  Without Mimi, I wouldn't have Chris
and so so many memories.

I want to name a constellation after Mimi.  "The Mimi Star."  Powerful how our lives intersected on Christoff Island.  We lived together for a time, went our separate ways, lived our lives, and never forgot Mimi.  Such a selfless person I've never known.  Maternal.  To so many.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/HB/1136783/BWPhotos+159628/Virginia//

Around 1989, I wrote a letter to Mimi from my new home in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I had left Alaska in 1988 to attend grad school at the University of Tennessee.  I'd just read Charlotte's Webb for my class in Children's Sources and Services.  Glenn Estes was the professor.  Quite a scholar he was, having served on a number of Caldecott Committees.  There's a quote about friendship in Charlotte's Webb -- I think is was when Charlotte died:  "Never was there a friend truer than she." or something to that affect.  I sent that quote to Mimi in Sitka, because it epitomized the depth of my friendship with her.  The actual quote goes:   "No one had ever had such a friend—so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful."(22.5)

Morgan commented that when Mimi moved to Accomack, Virginia she had just as great an impact there as she'd had in Alaska.  In Alaska she was a guardian ad litem, and founded the Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), for abused women.  I volunteered there for a time when I lived in Sitka.  Is it still running?  I definitely think so!

Then there was Mimi's second husband, Chris.  (Warren Christianson).  He had "Classics With Chris" on Raven Radio.  What a character!  He homesteaded in Sitka, claimed an island (originally called "Geirtan" and he changed the name to reflect his:  Christoff Island.  I guess it's still referred to as Geirtan on a  map because I should think it would be difficult to change a name on a map.  I  lived with Chris and Mimi (he refused to call her Mimi) for several months when I moved there in 1982.

October 21, 2018

Had a nice long talk on the phone with Fawn Potash, Mimi's daughter-in-law this morning.  Turns out Mimi did suffer.  Apparently when she went in for her procedure on June 7th, they found something, and her cancer metasthisized to her lymph nodes.  Apparently Miimi also tried immune therapy but had an adverse reaction to it.  She eventually accepted her fate, called in hospice, and got great care.  She was on morphine in the final days and Fawn held her hand til the end.

Mimi was angry at the cancer as it debilitated her so.  She had been vibrant, traveled widely, and had hardly been sick, ever.  Lung cancer is a brutal disease and I can't help but feel angry and upset for the first doctor who brushed her off when she asked for an x-ray.  Damn doctors who minimize their patients, probably just because they don't want to be bothered.  Like the way Dr. Kelly told me I'd do great, while he set my surgery for a month later.  What???


Oct. 22, 2018

She's There

In the pines that gently sway,
in the piece by Vivaldi that I heard today,
in memories that will never fade.
That's Mimi.

There's a small house in Managua
where she brought comfort to a grieving family.
She was a peace-seeker generous with compassion.
How will I get through her passing without her to comfort me?

The last time we spoke, she joked about
how we smoked pot before going to Safeway.
What a time in was, in the early 70's,
three friends living in an old brownstone,
sharing dinners and talking about men.

Activist, humanitarian, friend,
she spread her love wide, around the world and back.

She is here still.

(another poem about mimi -- )

It's Time

To stop grieving,

so much to do,

like dishes, chores, walks in the woods,

cooking, and writing, and Qi Gong,

I'll be fine, I'm getting along,

now you go on.

Go on into your day.

You have to work --

your dance poems to publish,

a memoir to make,

the printer to fix,

a shower to take,

So go on.

Go on into the brand new day.


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November 27, 2017

I'm noticing the beauty around me today.  Outside there is a bush with red leaves.  It glistened in the sun the other day with its bright shiny leaves.

The simplest things can be extraordinary.  Like a trip to Aldi. I went there today and got back just before Christine came over.  I went thru the check-out line 3 times.  Once to return the Romaine lettuce, then to check out my groceries, and a third time to buy this cool, giant sized red and black scarf.  It's a "Blackwatch" plaid, I think.   Hmmmm, thinking of Scotland...I was once there in November.  Cold!  Rainy!  Got sick when I was staying at the University of Edinburgh, but oh, how I love Edinburgh!!!